For years, bank-fintech relationships typically adopted a predictable path. Banks recognized promising startups, examined their know-how, and seen acquisition as the last word endgame. In the present day, that dynamic is altering.
At FinovateSpring 2026, I sat down with Deepa Chatterjee, SVP of Enterprise Growth and Go-to-Marketplace for Small Enterprise Banking at U.S. Financial institution, to debate how bank-fintech partnerships are evolving, the place banks are competing with digital-first challengers, and what the way forward for small enterprise banking appears to be like like.
One of the vital fascinating takeaways from our dialog was how dramatically the connection between banks and fintechs has modified. Whereas banks as soon as seen fintech partnerships as potential acquisition alternatives, many at the moment are embracing deeper, longer-term collaborations. “The way in which that we labored with fintechs was primarily pondering of probably buying them,” stated Deepa. “Now that tha markets have modified we’re much more prone to work and accomplice with fintechs in a a lot deeper manner, and so possession will not be essentially on the desk.”
Deepa Chatterjee is SVP of Enterprise Growth and Go-to-Marketplace for Small Enterprise Banking at U.S. Financial institution. She leads enterprise improvement, partnerships, gross sales enablement, product advertising, information insights, and automation initiatives for the financial institution’s small enterprise phase. Earlier than becoming a member of U.S. Financial institution, Chatterjee held management roles at Dayforce and Oportun and spent greater than a decade at American Specific in technique, advertising, and enterprise improvement positions. She holds a bachelor’s diploma in economics from Barnard School at Columbia College and an MBA from the Yale Faculty of Administration.
U.S. Bancorp, the guardian firm of U.S. Financial institution, is likely one of the largest banking establishments in the USA, serving thousands and thousands of client, enterprise, business, and institutional purchasers. The financial institution presents a broad vary of economic companies, together with enterprise banking, funds, treasury administration, service provider buying by way of Elavon, lending, and wealth administration options. U.S. Financial institution has more and more expanded its digital capabilities by way of fintech partnerships and embedded monetary companies designed to assist small companies streamline their monetary operations.
Photograph by Vitaly Gariev
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