FinTech Trends:
- 240 FinTech firms across six regions participated in a survey providing view of how FinTech–incumbent partnerships are shaping innovation and market positioning
- Nearly half (48%) of the respondents cited technology as the primary partnership driver
- Partnerships were largely viewed as enablers of scalable growth, strengthening trust, supporting regional expansion, and enhancing long-term strategic positioning
240 FinTech firms across six regions participated in a survey providing view of how FinTech–incumbent partnerships are shaping innovation and market positioning
The Future of Global FinTech report, produced by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, drew on responses from 240 FinTech firms operating across six regions, including Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
The findings were gathered through the second edition of the Future of Global FinTech Insight Survey, a logic-based questionnaire designed to capture regional, sectoral and maturity-level differences.
The survey focused on understanding how partnerships between FinTech companies and traditional financial institutions are shaping innovation, efficiency and market positioning across key verticals such as payments, WealthTech, InsurTech and digital banking.
Nearly half of the respondents cited technology as the primary partnership driver
Within the survey, respondents were asked to identify the primary drivers behind collaborations with incumbent financial institutions.
The results showed that access to technological solutions and infrastructure was the leading motivation, cited by 48% of respondents, underscoring the central role of technology in driving operational efficiency and innovation.
Enhanced credibility and trust (34%) and the ability to develop enhanced or entirely new products and services (34%) followed closely, highlighting how partnerships are being used to strengthen market positioning and accelerate product innovation.
Access to capital and funding (33%) and access to new customer segments or broader market reach (33%) further reflected the strategic value of collaboration in supporting growth and expansion.
Partnerships were largely viewed as enablers of scalable growth, strengthening trust, supporting regional expansion, and enhancing long-term strategic positioning
Beyond technology enablement, the findings pointed to a broader strategic rationale for FinTech–incumbent collaboration.
Enhanced credibility was particularly important in sectors such as WealthTech and digital capital raising, while access to customer segments was especially valued by digital payments and WealthTech firms pursuing international expansion.
Regional variations also emerged, with FinTech companies in APAC and Sub-Saharan Africa placing greater emphasis on technology infrastructure and supportive digital public ecosystems.
Overall, the distribution of responses indicated that partnerships were less about short-term competitive advantage and more about building scalable capabilities, trusted brands and sustainable growth models—reinforcing the role of collaboration as a cornerstone of the global FinTech ecosystem.
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