Ingo’s Edwards Credits ‘Culture of Possibility’ for Embedded Banking Progress

Technology can mitigate risk, enhance security and optimize customer interactions in banking and payments, Ingo Payments CEO Drew Edwards writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “The Innovation Mindset: How to Achieve It in 2025.”

Innovation and growth have always been at the heart of Ingo Payments’ journey. From our origins operating bank branches for underserved communities in Atlanta to our evolution into the leader and architect of money mobility, our commitment to asking “what if” has shaped our path. The acquisition of Deposits represents a transformative step forward, embodying the “yes, and …” mindset that drives us to continually innovate and create value for our customers.

Moving from ‘No, Because …’ to ‘Yes, And …’

Internally, Ingo Payments fosters a culture of possibility by listening to our clients and shaping our efforts around their needs. We challenge traditional paradigms by empowering our teams to think expansively about solutions rather than focusing on constraints. The acquisition of Deposits exemplifies this approach. Instead of relying on internal assumptions, we asked purposeful questions:

• “What more can we do to deliver greater value for our clients?”
• “How can we leverage our expertise to address their most pressing challenges?”
• “What would a platform look like that simplifies innovation while ensuring compliance and scalability?”

These inquiries helped us reimagine embedded banking, resulting in a vertically integrated platform that seamlessly combines ledgering, issuing, payments and compliance capabilities with the flexibility and scalability our clients need to innovate.

Technology as a Catalyst for Industry Transformation

Emerging technologies are crucial to driving transformative change in the payments and banking industry. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are particularly powerful for predictive risk management and operational efficiency. At Ingo Payments, we leverage AI-driven insights across our inbound account funding solutions — spanning check, card and ACH — to mitigate risk, enhance security and optimize customer interactions. Paired with our zero-liability fraud guarantee, this approach ensures clients can scale operations confidently while protecting their customers.

While AI and ML optimize processes behind the scenes, our no-code and low-code solutions ensure that innovation is accessible to every organization, regardless of technical expertise. These tools empower organizations to bring innovative products to market more quickly, without the barriers of legacy infrastructure. This democratization of financial technology underscores our belief that the future of payments lies in accessibility and adaptability.

Asking ‘What If’ and Acting on It

At Ingo Payments, our “yes, and …” mindset drives us to continuously ask, “What if?” This approach extends to rethinking the financial ecosystem as a whole. The acquisition of Deposits was guided by one such question: “What if we could unify fragmented financial processes into a single platform that meets the needs of modern consumers and businesses and in doing so empower ecosystems to create new economic possibilities for our clients?”

By answering that question, we expanded our capabilities beyond payments, enabling clients to build feature-rich accounts, integrate real-time payments, and simplify embedded financial solutions. This bold step unlocked new opportunities for growth — not just for Ingo Payments, but for our customers and the industry at large.

As we continue this journey, we remain committed to asking “what if” and delivering on those questions with tangible solutions. At Ingo Payments, the future isn’t just about adapting to change — it’s about anticipating it, shaping it and leading the way.