This story was delivered to BI Intelligence " Fintech Briefing " subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here . Banks collaborating with fintechs for mutual benefit has long been the preferred narrative when discussing the future of financial services. But this narrative may soon need to be updated, according to data from a new study by IDC and SAP. While a third of global banks continue to view fintechs as collaborators, nearly a quarter now see them as acquisition targets. The survey also showed that there are notable differences between how banks in different regions feel toward fintechs: Worldwide, six out of ten banks would partner with a fintech. Of that 60% , 34% would collaborate with a fintech, while 25% would consider acquiring one. Banks in Asia-Pacific are keenest to acquire fintechs. Thirty-one percent of banks said they view fintechs as acquisition targets, while banks in North America were similarly keen, with 30% seeing fintechs this way. Latin American banks are likeliest to collaborate with fintechs. Thirty-eight percent of Latin American banks view fintechs as possible collaborators, while in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), the figure is 36%. Banks in EMEA feel most threatened by fintechs. Thirty percent of banks in this region said they view fintechs as a threat, and therefore as competitors. Within Europe, the UK, Ireland, and Italy are most willing to collaborate with fintechs, while the Nordics, Germany, and France are least willing. We will likely see more incumbents starting to view fintechs as acquisition targets going forward. This is because some banks are starting to move past the "testing stage" in which they collaborated with fintechs, either directly or through investment, to assess new technologies without fully committing to them. They now likely feel in a position to decide […]
