Partner first. Then buy. Then build.

Risk Americas isn’t built for the flash and glam. It’s built for substance. It brings together some of the sharpest minds in financial services to talk about regulation and the shifting realities of risk management. The conversations are complex because the stakes are high, and that’s exactly what makes these topics matter.

Compliance isn’t exciting, but it is essential. This year, the panel on Navigating Regulatory Complexities in Fintech-Bank Partnerships brought some clarity to a space that’s often filled with noise. Sal Rehmetullah, Co-Founder and CEO of Worth, joined Brandi Coates, Chief Strategist at The Leading Term, and Alisa Rusanoff, former Head of Credit at Crescendo Asset Management, to unpack the tension between innovation and regulation.

Sal didn’t sugarcoat it. Banks no longer have the luxury of moving slowly. Consumers expect speed, simplicity, and digital-first experiences. Fintech is setting the pace, and financial institutions have to keep up or lose relevance. Sal’s approach was clear: Partner first. Then buy. Then build.

Because in a market shaped by urgency, the old way of doing things just doesn’t cut it.

The Shift to Flexible Solutions

As Sal put it, “If you downloaded Netflix and waited two weeks to watch a movie, you’d never buy Netflix.” That same mindset applies to financial services. If it’s not instant, it will become irrelevant.

Sal laid it out simply. Consumer expectations have changed. The old banking model of “we’ll get to it when we get to it” no longer holds up.

Today’s customers (especially small businesses) expect everything to be fast, simplified and digital. If consumers can apply for an Apple Wallet credit card and start using it almost instantly, why are small businesses still waiting days (or weeks) for underwriting decisions? SMBs won’t wait two weeks to open an account or sit through a 10-step onboarding process.

For years, legacy institutions relied on complexity and compliance as a barrier against fraud. But those barriers no longer protect them. Instead, they isolate them. Consumers are already choosing alternatives. Fintechs like Chime, CashApp and others are meeting people where they are, offering simple tools with fewer hoops and faster access.

Banks that want to stay competitive can’t keep operating like fortresses. The future belongs to flexible systems, pointed partnerships and customer-first design. The walls are coming down, and the institutions that survive will be the ones that adapt.

Fintech Partnerships: From Optional to Essential

Banks used to build everything themselves. It was slower, more expensive and often tangled in internal red tape, but it gave them control. That mindset is fading fast, however.

Fintechs have changed the game by offering targeted solutions that solve specific problems faster. Whether it’s onboarding, verification or real-time underwriting, these companies are built to move quickly. Banks no longer have to solve every problem alone. They just need to know who to call.

The buy-build-partner decision used to favor building. Now it starts with partnering. According to Cornerstone Advisors, 65 percent of banks and credit unions entered into at least one fintech partnership in the last four years. The shift is real and it’s accelerating.

These partnerships aren’t hypothetical. Plaid is helping credit unions improve data access and connectivity. Square is making business banking more accessible for small businesses. Fintechs are filling in the gaps, and customers are responding.

Partnering is no longer a workaround for convenience. It is a large part of strategy. It’s how financial institutions can innovate without losing time or relevance.

Regulatory Complexity and Risk

For all the talk about speed and innovation, the reality is that regulation still defines what is possible in financial services. Compliance can’t be put on the back burner or seen as an afterthought. It’s a constant pressure point, especially when fintechs and banks try to work together.

On the panel, Brandi Coates and Alisa Rusanoff highlighted the weight of this challenge. From shifting regulatory expectations to the hidden risks of acquiring startups, they laid out the fine line institutions have to walk. Every decision comes with scrutiny. Every new product has to survive the legal review before it ever reaches a customer.

Sal offered a clear response. Partnerships are how banks move forward without creating unnecessary risk. Instead of building everything in-house or absorbing an unproven startup, collaborating with fintechs offers a more flexible path. The key is choosing partners who value transparency, who can explain how their systems work and who understand that user experience must go hand in hand with compliance.

That explanation needs to be clear, detailed and confident. Fintechs must be able to walk partners through their systems, policies and processes without vague answers or technical fog. Transparency means being accountable and articulating exactly how things work, not just when things go right, but when they don’t.

For banks, that level of clarity should be considered a baseline. 

This is not just theory. Lack of transparency can directly result in exuberant fines. Regulators issued a $2.5 million penalty to money transfer app Wise in January of 2025 for failing to disclose certain exchange rates and charges. That number speaks for itself. The cost of getting it wrong is high.

What This Means for Banks (and Why It Matters Now)

Banks need to stop trying to do it all. Focus on what you do best and find strong partners to handle the rest.

The financial institutions that will win in this new environment are the ones that understand how to collaborate. That means building around API-driven ecosystems, prioritizing customer needs over internal legacy processes and accepting that innovation does not have to be built in-house to be valuable.

Fintechs aren’t here to replace banks. They are here to extend what banks can do. The smartest institutions are already shifting their mindset from control to coordination, from ownership to orchestration.

The risk of inaction can be a costly one. Customers are not waiting. If a bank can’t deliver a seamless experience, someone else will. The market is moving, and the expectation for speed, clarity and value is only growing.

Adapt or lose wallet share. It really is that simple.

The Future Isn’t Built Alone

In financial services, collaboration in the form of strategic partnerships is the path forward. Banks that partner wisely will be the ones that grow, adapt and lead. The ones that hold onto outdated processes or try to do everything themselves will fall behind. Fintechs that solve real problems, communicate clearly and work with intention will define the next chapter.

This is not about chasing buzzwords or jumping on trends. It is about building systems that actually work for the institutions using them and the customers counting on them.

The future belongs to those who know how to work together. No one builds it alone.