This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
UniCredit has signed a three-year agreement with Wealthon to finance a portfolio of receivables. The cooperation model, based on the sale of those receivables, is designed to support further scaling of the fintech’s business in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment.
UniCredit says it is open to working with mature fintech companies. One such partner, in its view, is Wealthon, a firm that has been providing financing to SMEs since 2019 while building its own ecosystem of payment processing and management tools. Under the three-year agreement, the bank will provide the necessary financial backing.
“We decided to cooperate with UniCredit under a financing model previously implemented, when it was still Aion Bank, among others with PayPo and Allegro Pay. It is a form of financing based on the ability to sell receivables, incorporating elements of securitization. The agreement runs for three years and envisages portfolio sales of PLN 0.5 billion (EUR 115 million),” said Aleksander Majchrzak, CEO of Wealthon.
In practice, Wealthon provides financing to its clients and then – through assignment – sells the receivables to UniCredit, while continuing to handle full customer servicing.
“Wealthon has an innovative product ecosystem, including its flagship product Poscash, which assesses a business owner’s creditworthiness based on daily turnover at payment terminals. Equally important was the technological synergy enabling integration of Wealthon’s ecosystem with the Vodeno platform in order to optimize automated receivables buyout processes,” said Paweł Ławecki, Director of Banking as a Service (BaaS) at UniCredit and board member at Vodeno.
Good to know
Wealthon – expanding SME financing and business services
Wealthon is a Polish fintech company founded in 2019, operating in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing segment. The company was created in response to limited access to funding for this segment within the traditional banking system.
Over time, Wealthon has expanded beyond pure lending to develop tools supporting business management and payment processing. Its offering includes, among others, financing based on turnover generated via payment terminals (Wealthon Poscash) and a business finance management app (Wealthon Wallet).
Last year, the company obtained a license as a National Payment Institution from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), allowing it to provide payment services on a broader scale and laying the foundation for further expansion of its corporate offering. Wealthon’s business model combines financing with operational tools for companies.
UniCredit expands its Banking-as-a-Service model in Europe
The Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) segment – also known as embedded finance – is one of the three core pillars of UniCredit’s strategy in Poland.
“These are services that enable non-financial companies, fintechs, and financial platforms without a banking license in a given jurisdiction to embed banking ecosystems. We provide partners both with the necessary technology (via API integration with the Vodeno platform) and licensed financial solutions. One element of our offering is also the automation of receivables buyouts under the RPA (Receivables Purchase Agreement) model. This allows a partner, for example, to scale lending activity thanks to greater capital availability. RPA supports the expansion of lending operations. It is fast and cost-efficient (without lengthy securitization processes) and available on a rolling basis (through daily buyouts). The model is highly flexible and operates on a pay-as-you-use basis – partners do not bear costs for unused limits. In addition, the partner benefits from lower financing costs (bank-provided funding),” explains Paweł Ławecki.
Dozens of companies across various industries in Europe already use UniCredit’s offering in this area.
“As one of the leaders of the BaaS model on the continent, we are continuously expanding our portfolio in this segment. We are among the few players that, in addition to offering solutions for local markets [Poland – ed.], can support partners’ expansion into multiple other European markets,” Mr. Ławecki notes.
Change of financing partner and lower cost of capital
The new agreement replaces earlier cooperation with funds managed by entities affiliated with Fortress Investment Group. A year ago, the company secured debt financing of up to PLN 500 million (EUR 115 million) under a three-year agreement, which is now being phased out and is set to expire at the end of May.
“Partnership with UniCredit provides access to bank-grade financing, which significantly reduces its cost. As a result, the financing cost of our flagship product is currently roughly twice as low, enabling us to offer clients more attractive terms and compete more effectively in the fintech market. This will allow us to scale much more significantly than before,” said Aleksander Majchrzak.
The company reports that in 2025 it extended approximately PLN 110 million (EUR 25 million) in financing. Over a three-year horizon, under an optimistic scenario, it plans to scale up its operations to as much as PLN 1 billion (EUR 230 million) in SME financing.
Wealthon does not have exclusivity with UniCredit and is formally free to secure additional financing partners.
Payment license and expansion of offering
At the same time, the company is expanding its product portfolio. Last year, Wealthon obtained a license as a National Payment Institution (Krajowa Instytucja Płatnicza) from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). This opens the way to building a full ecosystem of services for small and medium-sized enterprises. The licensing process took around two years and was demanding from a regulatory perspective.
“We want to offer, in the future, a full package of services that our clients need to run their businesses,” said Aleksander Majchrzak.
The company currently offers an app with a payment card, a credit line, a sales management system, and financing of up to PLN 600,000 (approx. EUR 140,000).
“The financing model based on repayments from payment terminals will remain the foundation of our business,” Majchrzak noted.
The automated repayment model reduces risk and simplifies the debt recovery process. The company is now focused on further development and scaling of its existing offering.
Expert's perspective
Why SMEs struggle to access bank financing
Although universal banks in Poland offer SME-targeted products, the market still lacks specialized institutions focused exclusively on this segment – such as those operating in more developed foreign markets. In Poland, Nest Bank is relatively close to microentrepreneurs; however, its offering for small and medium-sized companies is already more limited.
As a result, credit processes are not always adequately tailored to the specifics of SMEs. For entrepreneurs, the key factor is not only the cost of financing. Speed and predictability of credit decisions are equally important. In practice, this means that companies are often willing to accept higher costs in exchange for a smooth process and rapid access to funds.
The resulting gap is partially filled by non-bank institutions such as Wealthon. However, the company operates on a broader model than traditional lenders – beyond financing, it also provides tools supporting business management, including solutions for payment handling and processing. In addition, it uses proprietary systems that automate both the lending process and repayment, which is linked to companies’ ongoing turnover.
Financial results and path to profitability
In 2025, Wealthon generated just under PLN 30 million (EUR 6.9 million) in revenue. For the current year, the company expects to reach approximately PLN 40 million (EUR 9.2 million) in revenue.
“The company is still reporting a loss, mainly due to earlier financing costs and investments in product development. This is a natural stage in a startup’s development. Our goal is to achieve profitability in the second half of 2026,” said Aleksander Majchrzak.
Shifting approach to working capital financing
Expert's perspective
Structure of SME and microenterprise financing in Poland
Access to financing for SMEs in Poland is one of the key market challenges.
According to Paweł Ławecki from UniCredit, traditional loans are often less flexible in terms of working capital management.
“This gap has recently been increasingly filled by fintechs, offering modern processes and alternative models such as Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) or financing based on payment terminal turnover. These solutions enable real-time capital management and automated repayment of liabilities. One element of our strategy in reaching businesses is to meet entrepreneurs where they already are and deliver our services within the ecosystems they already use. This is made possible by our cloud-based technological infrastructure and our know-how in building embedded finance offerings. In this context, cooperation with Wealthon serves the objectives of both parties to the benefit of the end client – the entrepreneur,” said Paweł Ławecki.
Key Takeaways
- Wealthon scales up and builds an SME ecosystem. The partnership with UniCredit has enabled Wealthon to reduce its financing costs by half compared with previous structures. The company plans to scale its operations to as much as PLN 1 billion (EUR 230 million) in SME financing over three years, compared with PLN 110 million (EUR 25 million) extended in 2025. At the same time, it is expanding its own ecosystem of services, including an app, payment card, and sales management system. This development will be supported by the National Payment Institution license recently obtained from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).
- UniCredit–Wealthon cooperation model. UniCredit has signed a three-year agreement with Wealthon for financing based on a receivables purchase model. Under the partnership, the bank will provide financial backing, with the portfolio expected to reach up to PLN 0.5 billion (EUR 115 million). The model is based on Wealthon extending financing to SME clients and subsequently selling the receivables to UniCredit, while retaining full customer servicing. The cooperation is intended to support the fintech’s growth and scale-up of its lending activity.
- UniCredit: BaaS and embedded finance in Europe. UniCredit is developing its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) model in Poland and across Europe, also referred to as embedded finance. Under this approach, the bank provides API-based technology and licensed financial services to partners without a banking license. A key element of the offering is the RPA model, which enables automated receivables buyouts and supports increased lending capacity. The solution operates on a pay-as-you-use basis and is designed to reduce costs and increase financing flexibility. Dozens of companies across Europe currently use UniCredit’s BaaS services.