Bond as Bank Distribution Layer
Roy Ng, co-founder and CEO of Bond, on BaaS's business model
This shows that Bond was trying to become a distribution layer for bank charters, not just a software reseller. In practice, a sponsor bank can pay Bond because Bond brings in fintechs and vertical software companies that want to launch cards or accounts, handles much of the setup and compliance workflow, and spares the bank from sourcing and onboarding each program one by one. That flips part of the usual vendor relationship, because the bank is buying access to customer flow.
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Bond describes itself as an aggregator of demand across banks, processors, and KYC vendors. By pooling many fintech and software customers on one stack, it can send suppliers more volume than any single brand could, which gives Bond leverage on pricing and makes a bank willing to pay for distribution.
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This only makes sense because BaaS margins are thin and contract by contract. In the standard stack, the fintech usually keeps the biggest share of interchange, while the bank and program manager take smaller pieces. A bank that pays for demand is effectively trading some margin for more programs, deposits, and transaction volume.
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The broader market was moving this way. Some banks already preferred fintech programs to come through a platform rather than work with brands directly, because platforms masked the messy bank selection process, connected to processors like i2c, and packaged compliance and operations into one onboarding path.
Going forward, the strongest BaaS platforms become the banks' outsourced sales channel and operating layer at the same time. As more banks decide they want fintech volume without building their own distribution and implementation teams, platforms that control demand, bank matching, and program operations should capture more of the ecosystem's bargaining power.