From Traditional Banking to Fintech: The PR Transition
The PR transition from traditional banking to fintech means banks now compete for coexistence with fintech partners rather than defending against pure disruption, since bank-fintech partnerships are expanding even as fintechs increasingly seek their own charters. The banking-as-a-service market both sides depend on sits at roughly $28.96 billion in 2026, according to Mordor Intelligence, projected to reach $65.78 billion by 2031.
Why Are Banks and Fintechs Moving Toward Coexistence?
Banks and fintechs are increasingly framing their relationship as coexistence rather than competition, according to Phil Goldfeder of the American Fintech Council, an organization that represents both banks and fintech companies. Banks bring regulatory compliance and consumer protection infrastructure, while fintechs bring product innovation that reaches consumers in ways banks have not, Goldfeder told The Financial Brand in a 2026 interview.
Why it works: A bank's PR narrative built entirely around defending against fintech disruption becomes outdated the moment that same bank announces its own fintech partnership. Framing the relationship as coexistence gives a bank room to promote both its institutional trust and its technology partnerships without contradicting itself.
What Should a Bank's Modernized PR Narrative Include?
- Concrete technology investments, mobile banking features, fraud detection systems, and API partnerships, rather than vague claims of innovation
- Its regulatory track record and consumer protection history as a trust asset, not just a compliance requirement
- Named bank-fintech partnerships, since these are now newsworthy achievements in their own right; Huntington National Bank and True Link won the Best Bank-Fintech Partnership award at the 2026 Banking Tech Awards USA for their integrated family banking platform
- Transparency around fees, data privacy practices, and security measures, the same trust signals both banks and fintechs are judged on today
Why Does Trust Still Favor Incumbent Banks?
Trust in financial services reached 63% globally in 2026, up 10 points over five years, the only sector to post double-digit trust growth since 2021, according to the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer. Incumbent banks can draw on decades of regulatory history and brand recognition that a newer fintech challenger has not yet built, which is why a bank's PR narrative benefits from leaning into that history rather than only mimicking a fintech's innovation messaging.
How Should a Fintech Challenger Position Against an Incumbent Bank?
A fintech challenger should lead with the specific gap it closes, faster approval, lower fees, easier account access, rather than positioning itself as simply newer or more digital, since digital banking features are now standard across incumbents too. Fintech brands compete for AI citation share on the strength of recent, verifiable coverage rather than decades of brand recognition, so a consistent publishing and earned-media cadence closes part of the gap a newer brand starts with against an established bank.
What Does 5W's Financial Services PR Practice Offer?
5W is a financial services and fintech PR agency that helps both traditional banks and fintech challengers navigate this narrative shift, coordinating earned media with 5W's financial services digital marketing agency for the SEO and GEO work that supports it.
