Fintech enablers powering banking’s next chapter

The narrative around fintechs has long centered on disruption – fast-moving challengers redefining the rules of banking. But that’s only half the story. Across financial services, fintechs are becoming catalysts for banks’ progression. These enablers aren’t built to replace institutions but to strengthen them, providing the infrastructure, agility and scale that help incumbents thrive in a digital-first world. Collaboration, not competition, is now the marker of success. And collaboration takes many forms, from strategic partnerships and joint ventures to minority stakes and full acquisitions. Within Elixirr’s Fintech Framework, enablers stand out as the partners helping banks modernize systems, enhance customer experiences and drive sustainable growth. The opportunity lies in how effectively institutions harness the capabilities of enablers to unlock value, strengthen their own internal capabilities and build the foundation for the next era of financial services. 

Fintechs as a lever for growth  

The real advantage of enabler fintechs lies in how they translate collaboration into measurable impact. Rather than reshaping the customer interface, they strengthen the engine behind it – modernizing the technology and operations that power traditional banking. From agile core platforms and open APIs to AI-driven compliance systems, enablers give incumbents the tools to innovate at scale while preserving the regulatory rigor and trust that define them. Lloyds Banking Group invested £11 million in UK fintech Thought Machine to modernize its legacy systems using the Vault Core cloud platform. The partnership boosts speed, agility and personalization – showing how enabler fintechs strengthen, rather than replace, traditional banking.

Investment in fintechs continues to rise. While overall fintech funding declined 20 percent in 2024, many of the year’s largest rounds were led not by venture capital firms but by traditional financial institutions. Traditional banks such as Citi took lead positions in major fintech investments, e.g. SeQura, a BNPL platform, underscoring how incumbents are targeting fintechs as strategic growth partners even in a cooling market.

This marks a decisive shift. There is an increasing realization among banks that investing in or partnering with fintechs is not optional innovation but essential strategy. Those that hesitate risk being left behind as peers turn collaboration, acquisitions and minority stakes into levers for faster transformation and competitive edge.

To capture this opportunity, banks need a clear strategy for where and how to collaborate. Success depends not on the number of fintech collaborations, but on how well each aligns to strategic goals and how effectively they partner. Enablers deliver value when integrated deliberately – reinforcing what banks already do best and accelerating what they must do next. Elixirr’s Fintech Framework provides the lens to identify where that alignment exists, helping institutions deploy investments as levers for growth rather than incremental upgrades.

What effective collaboration looks like 

The impact of collaboration between banks and enabler fintechs is no longer theoretical; it’s reshaping how the industry operates. Across markets from Europe and North America to Africa and Asia, these relationships, whether through partnerships, investments or acquisitions, are modernizing the foundations of banking, from payments and lending to onboarding, compliance and liquidity management.

In payments and infrastructure, collaboration between traditional banks and enablers is cutting settlement times from days to seconds and reducing fraud through real-time authorization and data analytics. The strategic partnership between NatWest Group in the UK and Vodeno in continental Europe highlights how this is evolving into full Banking-as-a-Service capability. By combining Vodeno’s API-based cloud platform with NatWest’s banking infrastructure and licenses, the partnership enables businesses to embed financial products such as payments, deposits and credit directly into their ecosystems, creating new distribution channels and non-interest income streams for the bank.

In treasury, FX and risk management, BNP Paribas’ acquisition of Kantox shows how collaboration with enablers can evolve into full integration when the technology becomes strategically critical. After partnering since 2019, the Europe-based bank moved to acquire the London and Barcelona-based fintech to embed its API-driven FX automation platform across its corporate and commercial banking services. Kantox’s technology streamlines hedging and cross-border payments for thousands of businesses, strengthening BNP Paribas’ digital capabilities across European markets and advancing its Growth Technology Sustainability 2025 strategy.

In onboarding and compliance, TSB Bank’s collaboration with Entrust in the UK shows how enablers are redefining the customer experience. Using Entrust’s biometric identity verification solution, TSB enables new customers to open accounts and access digital banking in under 10 minutes, securely matching IDs and facial biometrics to reduce fraud while delivering a seamless digital onboarding journey.

In lending and credit, enabler JUMO, operating across African and Asian markets, is helping banks extend financial access more efficiently through cloud-based, AI-driven platforms. JUMO’s infrastructure allows institutions to design and deploy digital lending products rapidly, helping them reach new customer segments and accelerate credit capabilities without overhauling existing systems.

These collaborations are a core part of how banks deliver value and stay competitive. For fintechs, the benefit lies in reach and credibility, gaining access to regulated markets through established institutions. For banks, the payoff is speed, flexibility and capability. Together, they are transforming what used to be weaknesses – legacy infrastructure, complexity and cost – into new sources of competitive strength within banking.

Redefining the future through collaboration 

The evolution of fintech has revealed a more complex reality than disruption alone. Across markets, enablers are demonstrating that transformation and tradition can coexist to create lasting value. From infrastructure and liquidity to onboarding and lending, these collaborations are now core to how banks operate, compete and grow. The examples of NatWest, BNP Paribas, TSB and Lloyds show how their relationships with enablers translate strategy into tangible outcomes – faster delivery, smarter compliance and expanded access to financial services. The challenge for banks is no longer whether to engage, but how to approach it strategically in order to reduce risk and cost.

Elixirr’s Fintech Framework categorizes fintechs to give banks the clarity and confidence to pursue the right relationship – whether it’s a full acquisition, minority stake or independent partnership – identifying where collaboration creates value and which players, particularly enablers, can accelerate transformation. We’ve helped institutions apply this lens in practice, from selecting the right partners and investment targets to building the operating models that turn collaboration into measurable impact. The future of banking will be defined by those who master this balance, turning fintech collaboration into a sustained source of innovation, resilience and competitive advantage.