Resolved: Financial Institutions Will Not Survive. The BaaS Debate

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) banking is dead. The regulators have spoken. The death knell has rung. This freewheeling approach in which providers just make money fast, push the responsibility down and enable everyone with a leaky kitchen sink solution is not only untenable it is also wrong. This system where one party owns the responsibility but has no control or accountability over the second entity is flawed. The new model must create an alternate universe whereby BaaS FIs disappear to the nether regions of banking folklore and we emerge with a new model in which those offering financial services can have access to the financial system and, in exchange, are held to task for their behaviors directly. Or is all the ballyhoo overblown? Are we throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Does BaaS work and just need some minor tweaks? This debate will shine a light on the sausage making that happens in the world of BaaS banks and their fintech partners, showing the good the bad and the ugly. And ultimately the audience will decide the future of BaaS.