CSI has acquired payments infrastructure provider Qolo as the financial technology company looks to strengthen its commercial banking capabilities and expand its position in the fast-growing embedded finance market.
The acquisition gives CSI's community bank customers access to modern treasury capabilities, real-time payments infrastructure and more flexible commercial banking products, while broadening the company's reach across the FinTech ecosystem.
The move comes as community financial institutions face increasing pressure to deliver digital experiences that rival larger banks and FinTechs. Research from Datos Insights cited in the announcement found that 85% of small and medium-sized businesses would choose their primary financial institution over a FinTech or national bank if it offered comparable capabilities, highlighting the opportunity for banks that can modernise their technology.
Qolo's platform brings three core capabilities to CSI's commercial banking offering. Its real-time ledger provides instant visibility into balances, transactions and authorisations, while its multi-rail payments engine enables domestic and international money movement through a single orchestration layer. The platform also supports debit, prepaid, virtual and secured corporate credit card issuing and processing.
The technology will integrate with CSI's core banking platform, digital banking services and API ecosystem, enabling community financial institutions to deliver more modern commercial banking products without replacing their existing core infrastructure.
CSI president and CEO Nancy Langer said, 'Community financial institutions are built on trusted relationships, local expertise, and deep knowledge of their markets. But businesses in their communities also need sophisticated banking capabilities that simplify and fit more naturally into their day-to-day financial operations.
'With Qolo, CSI is helping community banks bring those capabilities to market in ways that help them grow commercial relationships and become more central to how businesses operate. At the same time, it expands our ability to support fintechs and B2B payments providers as demand grows for financial services embedded directly into everyday business workflows,' she said.
Qolo co-founder and CEO Patricia Montesi added, 'The line between traditional banking and embedded finance is becoming increasingly blurred. Whether you're a community bank modernizing your commercial offering or a fintech building embedded finance products, you're often running into the same challenges: fragmented vendors, disconnected payment rails and manual workarounds that limit growth.
'By joining CSI, we can invest more deeply in the infrastructure that powers modern financial experiences and help our customers become a more seamless part of how businesses manage and move money every day,' she said.