Upstart financial firms that provide services such as early paycheck access or buy-now, pay-later plans have attracted rising interest from customers and investors alike. Fintechs raised nearly $24 billion globally in the first three quarters of 2024, according to data from CB Insights, and represent a growing competitive threat to traditional banks and asset managers.
"We just have to be better, not just than our peer banks but everybody else that’s competing for our customers,” Banco Santander Executive Chair Ana Botín said at the Bloomberg Women Money & Power conference in London in December. "Accounts tend to be still with us, but payments and value added services are going to others,” Botin said.
The incoming U.S. administration has made financial deregulation a policy priority for the next four years, and the future of the powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is in question. In Europe, by contrast, policymakers continue to take a cautious approach to the industry. That asymmetry has made the U.S. an attractive market for fintech startups looking for both growth and sources of funding.
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