NatWest Boxed Rebuilds Infrastructure for Embedded Finance Platform
Asif Siddiqui, Director of Engineering for Banking as a Service at NatWest Boxed, is leading efforts to rebuild the infrastructure behind embedded financial services. With a 26-year technology career, Siddiqui has worked with complex, high-volume systems at global brands like Amazon and Emirates Airline.
Siddiqui joined NatWest Boxed to address the limitations of legacy banking infrastructure and third-party dependencies. His goal is to create a next-generation embedded finance platform.
A New Platform for Embedded Finance
NatWest Boxed aims to provide an end-to-end financial engine that major UK brands can integrate into their product catalogs and customer journeys. The platform allows partners to offer services like savings and lending while enhancing customer engagement and opening new revenue opportunities.
“We’re not just providing a technology stack or a single service – we’re providing an end-to-end solution for these enterprises,” Siddiqui explains. This solution combines technology, customer service, regulatory protection, and go-to-market strategy.
Moving to Full Ownership
A key part of Siddiqui’s work has been NatWest Boxed’s shift from a partner-supported model to an internally owned embedded finance platform. The company initially partnered with a major European technology provider while building its in-house platform.
Over several months, NatWest Boxed migrated customers and product features without disrupting service in a highly regulated environment. “We couldn’t afford to lose a single data point or have significant downtime,” Siddiqui notes. Data synchronisation and an intelligent orchestration layer enabled a gradual transition, avoiding a high-risk “big-bang migration.”
Control, Speed, and Insight
For Siddiqui, owning the platform means control, speed, and insight. Third-party platforms can introduce external release cycles and technical debt. “Third-party dependency is a trap,” he says.
Full ownership also provides direct access to data, supporting telemetry, observability, and risk management. This foundation enables AI-assisted development.
AI and Future Growth Strategies
NatWest Boxed is exploring the potential of agentic AI to enhance product development and accelerate delivery. This technology is expected to transform the way products are created and launched.
Resilience, Partnerships, and Future Growth
Siddiqui emphasizes that resilience and innovation are not opposing goals. NatWest Boxed uses independently owned micro-domains for areas like ledger, onboarding, and financial crime monitoring. These domains are supported by automated testing and continuous integration.
The company also values external partnerships. Capco, a long-standing collaborator, supported NatWest through the launch of Mettle and the embedded finance migration.
