Our Fragmented Banking Lives

As we enter a new decade, it is an opportune time to look back on how the fintech landscape has evolved over the past ten years and how it has affected banking. 

As the 2010s started, the word “disruption” — especially as it pertained to fintech — began to be thrown around with regularity, and fintechs were thought of (and often promoted themselves) as “barbarians at the gate” ready to steal all of the traditional banks’ customers and put them out of business. 

Toward the middle of the decade, that tone softened (for the most part), and we began hearing more about partnerships between the two and how that model was the future.

As we boldly embark on a new decade, neither of those paradigms has entirely come true. As this excellent article on The Financial Brand notes, perhaps the greatest legacy that fintech has brought us is to fragment the banking landscape. The rise of fintechs has brought with it the notion that we don’t need to have one bank for the rest of our lives for all of our financial needs. People are now comfortable with the idea of having a traditional bank for their checking account; a Robinhood, Wealthfront, or Chime for other financial needs; and maybe another challenger bank for a high-yield savings account. 

As the article states, “Banking is no longer monogamous.” Perhaps that is the greatest legacy of fintech.