It has been a difficult year for banking-as-a-service (Baas) providers. In March, Synctera reduced staff numbers by around 15%, while Treasury Prime made even deeper cuts and Synapse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April.
In June, the US Federal Reserve Board issued an enforcement action against Evolve Bancorp and Evolve Bank & Trust for deficiencies in anti-money laundering, risk-management and consumer-compliance programmes.
Also in June, Unit cut its headcount by 15%. In a blog post announcing the job losses, co-founders Itai Damti and Doron Somech acknowledged that banks in the fintech ecosystem "have slowed down in the last year due to increased regulatory scrutiny".
“While it is easy to point fingers at regulation, the reality is that these failures often stem from a combination of factors – misaligned incentives, inadequate due diligence and an over-reliance on technology without fully understanding its limitations,” says Jovi Overo, managing director of Unlimit's BaaS division. “The cases of Synapse and Evolve Bank serve as a cautionary tale for the entire industry.”
Underestimates
The price of the technology is often underestimated, with initial proposals turning out to be less profitable once the depth required is understood and bespoke changes are made.
“The
