CSI Acquires Qolo to Strengthen and Expand its Commercial Banking and Embedded Finance Capabilities

Acquisition helps community banks, fintechs, and B2B payments providers deliver more modern financial experiences through enhanced deposits, payments, and card solutions.

PADUCAH, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CSI, a leading provider of end-to-end financial software and technology, has acquired Qolo, a leading fintech provider of modern treasury solutions and payments infrastructure. The acquisition strengthens CSI’s commercial banking solutions by helping community financial institutions enable more flexible deposit structures, intelligent money movement, and expanded commercial card programs, while extending CSI’s reach across the broader fintech and payments ecosystem.

Today’s businesses expect faster payment options, real-time cash flow visibility, and financial solutions embedded into their daily workflows. As banks, fintechs, and technology providers work together to deliver more connected financial experiences, businesses increasingly expect payments, accounts, and treasury functions to operate seamlessly and in real time. For community banks, that creates a clear opportunity: 85% of SMBs say they would choose their primary financial institution over a fintech or larger bank if it offered comparable capabilities, according to Datos Insights.

Together, CSI and Qolo are giving community financial institutions new ways to attract, retain, and grow business relationships by delivering modern commercial banking capabilities once reserved for larger banks.

“Community financial institutions are built on trusted relationships, local expertise, and deep knowledge of their markets,” said Nancy Langer, president and CEO of CSI. “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.”

The Qolo acquisition advances CSI’s strategy to equip community banks with the commercial banking infrastructure they need to compete by adding three primary capability areas:

• Real-time account ledger: Delivers modern deposit infrastructure built around a real-time ledger, giving banks and businesses instant visibility into balances, transactions, and authorizations.
• Multi-rail payment orchestration: Provides a unified payment engine that orchestrates domestic and international money movement across multiple payment rails and business workflows.
• Enhanced card capabilities: Expands integrated issuing and processing across debit, prepaid, virtual, and secured corporate credit card programs.

Qolo’s technology will function as the orchestration layer across payments, accounts, and workflows, integrating with CSI’s core banking platform, digital banking solution, and broader API capabilities to deliver prepackaged, pre-integrated commercial banking solutions for community financial institutions.

Qolo also serves a growing base of fintech and B2B payments providers that rely on its infrastructure for card issuing, multi-rail money movement, virtual account management, and embedded ledgering. As part of CSI, those customers will benefit from the scale, compliance expertise, and long-term investment needed to support continued innovation and growth.

Together, CSI and Qolo are creating a stronger foundation for embedded finance, helping fintechs deliver more seamless financial experiences while strengthening the connections between banks, fintechs, and the businesses they serve.

“The line between traditional banking and embedded finance is becoming increasingly blurred,” said Patricia Montesi, co-founder and CEO of Qolo. “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.”

Looking ahead, the acquisition advances CSI’s broader vertical banking strategy by helping community banks deliver prepackaged, pre-integrated commercial banking solutions tailored to industries with specialized deposit, payment, and workflow needs.

D.A. Davidson & Co. served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Qolo. Cooley LLP served as legal counsel to Qolo.

To learn more about CSI, please visit csiweb.com. To learn more about Qolo, visit qolo.io.

About CSI

CSI is a leading provider of end-to-end financial technology solutions, helping U.S. community and regional financial institutions compete and grow. Backed by more than 60 years of industry expertise, CSI delivers a comprehensive suite of capabilities spanning core banking, digital banking, lending, payments, risk and compliance, and managed IT and cybersecurity services. CSI gives financial institutions the flexibility to deploy an open, fully integrated core platform or best-of-breed, core-agnostic solutions, enabling them to modernize on their terms. Known for its high-touch service, CSI helps financial institutions navigate disruption, strengthen account holder relationships, and drive growth in an increasingly digital-first financial landscape. To learn more, visit www.csiweb.com.

About Qolo

Qolo is a payments infrastructure platform that enables commercial banks and fintechs to operate with the speed and flexibility of modern financial systems without replacing core systems. By unifying card issuing, ledger and money movement into a single programmable control layer, Qolo empowers customers to launch and scale innovative financial products, streamline operations and gain real-time and actionable visibility into funds.