Credit Unions and FinTech Innovations Must Align to Succeed

Many FinTechs partner with credit unions (CUs) and other financial institutions (FIs) to provide the innovative products and services that today’s digital-first consumers expect. In fact, almost all view CUs as collaborators more than competitors. To be successful partners, FinTechs need to align their innovation roadmaps with CUs’ innovation agendas.

A key objective among FinTechs is to innovate around self-service banking. PYMNTS Intelligence’s data shows most FinTechs planning at least one type of self-service banking product. This is one way that FinTechs’ innovation roadmaps align with CUs’ agendas. But our latest report reveals areas of misalignment that FinTechs need to address.

These are some of the key findings explored in “How FinTechs Can Align With Credit Union Innovation Agendas,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera (formerly PSCU/Co-op Solutions) collaboration. This report examines how FinTechs are innovating to meet the financial needs of CU members. The report is based on a survey of 110 executives at FinTechs that provide services to FIs and individual consumers. Conducted between March 7 and April 1, the survey investigated how FinTechs partner with CUs to provide innovative banking solutions.

The report also includes insights from a survey of 200 CU executives conducted from March 7 to April 2. This survey aimed to learn about CUs’ current product and feature offerings as well as their plans for future innovation.

Inside “How FinTechs Can Align With Credit Union Innovation Agendas”:

• The obstacles that FinTechs say they face when selling to CUs
• Details about how FinTechs view their relationships with CUs
• What products and features FinTechs plan to offer in the next three years
• How FinTechs’ innovation pipeline helps CUs’ meet the needs of digital-first members
• Where FinTechs’ innovation priorities differ from CUs’ priorities
• The internal challenges that FinTechs face when bringing innovations to market

Although FinTechs partner with CUs to provide the products and services that today’s digital first consumers expect, these partnerships are not without frictions. The report explores the challenges FinTechs face internally and externally when bringing innovative products to market.

Eight charts of insightful data explore the opportunity for FinTechs when they align their innovations roadmap with what CUs’ want. Download the report to learn about how both are innovating digital banking and payment solutions to drive future growth.