Fintech Roundup: Banks beginning to view fintechs as frenemies
Brandon McGee
“As part of its efforts to stay on top of all things digital, Truist opened a 100,000-square-foot innovation and tech center. Some of the things the bank is getting serious about, according to Case, are cloud architecture, data and analytics. It’s even built an “API toolkit and playbook” that he describes as “very important” to the institution.l
And last but not least, Kaleidoscope, a fintech driving “education-based philanthropy,” raised a $10M Series A round to connect sponsoring organizations, donors and applicants. The startup says it has facilitated over $370 million in scholarships and grants over the last two years.
And in another example of fintechs partnering with banks, Plaid announced an “open finance relationship” with Frost Bank that will bring data connectivity to the institution’s nearly 400,000 customers located throughout Texas. Or in other words, Plaid wants to help Frost customers “securely and easily” integrate their accounts and finances online. This is a prime example of a bank recognizing that technology can make the lives of their customers easier, and doing something about it.”
