How Banks and Fintechs Will Embrace Coexistence, not Competition, in 2026
By Steve Cocheo, Senior Executive Editor at The Financial Brand
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The outlook for financial services in the year ahead will be marked by two significant trends, according to Phil Goldfeder, CEO of the American Fintech Council.
The first is increasing competition, as a resurgence in new bank charters continues, as fintech players and others go the route of becoming banks.
The second is an expansion in bank-fintech partnerships , as they come together “to reach consumers in new and innovative ways,” says Goldfeder.
Goldfeder’s organization is unusual in that it represents both banks as well as fintech companies. Goldfeder’s own roots are in both industries. Prior to joining AFC, he worked in the top policy post at Cross River, a bank known for banking-as-a-service and related banking-fintech cooperation.
In 2026, he sees the potential for growth for both industries as “banks play their role in regulatory compliance and consumer protection, and fintechs make sure they’re creating new products to give consumers access to financial services in ways they’ve never had them before.”
Goldfeder thinks an attitude adjustment is critical: “We have to stop thinking in terms of traditional players versus the future ones, and instead find ways to bridge those gaps.”
Need to Know:
- Many policies of the Biden administration were completely reversed in the last year, as the Trump team opened the door to more bank mergers and bank charters and deposit insurance for fintechs and crypto players. It also pushed through major legislation rebooting stablecoins.
- At the same time, the Trump administration ushered in a new team of federal banking regulators that sing from the same songbook, though tensions with the Federal Reserve regarding interest rates continue.
- Consumer protection regulation at the federal level has been radically altered, with the continuing shrinkage of the domain and role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Meanwhile, a movement for states to step into CFPB’s role is gathering momentum.
Charters for Fintechs Will Multiply
Goldfeder says federal regulators’ move towards national bank charters for fintechs will open up opportunity while maintaining a level playing field — in contrast with the Obama-era proposal for a specialized fintech charter.
“Those who want to get a charter and want to go through the regulatory process to become banks — or banks who want to build out their own technology platform — should both be able to do that,” says Goldfeder. “But there should be no shortcuts. There should be no easy path because you’re one entity or another.”
No shortcuts: “If you want to engage in banking activities, then become a bank. The idea of creating pathways and workarounds is not always the right answer.”
Goldfeder says it’s important to encourage healthy competition and innovation.
“There’s plenty of room for companies to be in the ecosystem and be successful. There was once a time that we had close to 40,000 community banks in this country,” says Goldfeder. “Obviously, that number has dwindled, but fintech and innovation services have stepped up to replace them.”
Banks should prepare for more fintechs seeking — and obtaining — charters. Goldfeder doesn’t think demand for new charters has crested yet. Many players perceive that they have a narrow window of opportunity, given that a new administration might shut off the tap again.
As more players go through the process, Goldfeder expects that others who haven’t embarked on the journey yet will note what those already in it have done right and what they’ve done wrong.
“As more and more people learn from those experiences, they’re going to wade into the same water,” he says.
Read more: The Innovation Gap Forcing Banks into Fintech M&A
Will States Take the Lead on Consumer Protection Regulation?
One of the final efforts of the Biden-era leadership of the CFPB was publishing a guide to setting up state-level clones of itself. And late in 2025, state-based consumer financial protection got another boost: The Progressive State Leaders Committee, a wing of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, announced that Rohit Chopra will serve as senior advisor to the association’s consumer protection and affordability working group. Chopra headed CFPB during the Biden administration.
A focus on affordability. This state-level effort plays into consumer feelings that affordability for many things, including financial services, is being squeezed.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Chopra insisted that in the absence of federal action on affordability, states would have to become the “chief regulators of much of the economy.”
Goldfeder resists the possibility of banks and fintechs having to face a “patchwork of state regulatory structures” and hope that more clarity on the federal level will be reached.
“It becomes challenging to comply when you have a patchwork of state regulation,” says Goldfeder. “We would prefer to see federal action so we have single rules.”
In the absence of federal clarity, “a coalition is always more helpful. In the absence of that, we will work state-to-state with banking regulators across the country.”
New Rules on Open Banking Are Coming
On open banking, Goldfeder says he’s been told by CFPB that a proposed rule will be published by the end of January or in early February.
“What it looks like, we don’t know yet,” says Goldfeder. His group favors a rule that would ensure that data should be fee-free for consumers.
“There’s a significant amount of uncertainty in the industry right now,” says Goldfeder, with companies using the original CFPB rule that was withdrawn as a guideline in the absence of something definitive.
Read more: How the Marriage of Open Banking and Payments Will Change Everything
Welcome Unanimity at the Federal Level
Even when appointed by the same president, federal banking agencies and their top officials haven’t always agreed on everything about banking policy.
A strategic shift: In the past, banking lobbyists often exploited such differences, playing off one federal regulator against another.
Now, observers of the federal scene have remarked about the strong agreement on goals and principles seen among recent Trump appointments to FDIC, the Comptroller’s Office and the Federal Reserve. Goldfeder says this is real, and that it has improved the tone of regulatory relations.
“It’s a breath of fresh air,” says Goldfeder. He says the main bank regulatory appointees have a long history of financial services regulation, so “they come with the knowledge of experience to get things done.”
“But even more important than that is that they all know each other, get along with each other, and work very well together,” says Goldfeder. He says this is reflected in the agencies putting out more joint information than in the past, which provides greater clarity. He says this is more helpful than having regulatory discord that provides cracks to exploit.
Don’t Bet on Far-reaching AI Regulation
While there is friction between federal and state governments over the regulation of AI, Goldfeder doubts this issue will jell in 2026 for the financial services business.
“You’re going to see a lot more education,” says Goldfeder. “You’re going to see more people looking to better understand AI’s uses, and its implications, before we see regulations.”
Read next:5 Critical Payments Challenges for Banks in 2026. Keep Your Eye on PayPal
