NEW YORK—Credit unions are relying more heavily on fintech partnerships as a faster path to modernization, with new PYMNTS Intelligence research produced in collaboration with Velera showing those relationships are expanding even as similar arrangements with larger banks are pulling back.
The shift suggests credit unions are increasingly being viewed by technology providers as institutions that can move more quickly, test new models more readily and bring new capabilities to market with fewer layers of internal constraint.
According to PYMNTS, fintech partnerships involving credit unions rose nearly 20% last year, while comparable partnerships with large banks fell sharply. PYMNTS said that change points to a reallocation of effort toward institutions that can execute more nimbly, and it reinforces what its prior joint research with Velera has shown: what was once a supplemental strategy for many credit unions has become a central part of how they pursue innovation and modernization.
The intensity of that reliance appears to be increasing.
PYMNTS reported that by late 2025, 56% of credit unions said fintech partnerships allowed them to innovate “much faster and at much bigger scale” than they could independently, up from 22% earlier in the year. Among early adopters, that figure climbed to 65%, a jump that suggests many institutions are no longer treating external providers as optional add-ons but as an increasingly important extension of their own strategic and technology capabilities.
PYMNTS and Velera said the most visible area of collaboration remains mobile and digital payments, which now sits at the center of partnership activity. Roughly 66% of credit unions expect partners to support payments capabilities over the next three years, while 22% already identify payments as the single most important area of collaboration—more than double the share reported just months earlier.
Data analytics is emerging alongside payments as another major focus. PYMNTS said nearly 70% of credit unions report partners either already provide—or are expected soon to provide—analytics capabilities. That includes tools tied to data ingestion, risk modeling and decisioning, areas that can help institutions respond more quickly to changing member behavior, credit conditions and pricing pressures.
Execution Challenges
Even with the momentum, the report indicates the execution challenges are real. PYMNTS said speed remains the most frequently cited benefit, with 61% of credit unions pointing to faster implementation as a primary advantage and 18% identifying it as the single most important reason to collaborate.
But 77% of implementations still take longer than planned. Credit unions often view those delays as manageable, frequently attributing them to governance requirements and integration complexity, while fintechs are more likely to see the same delays as more significant obstacles.
The research also found credit unions are increasingly looking to partnerships to strengthen risk management and improve efficiency, not just accelerate innovation. A majority cited enhanced risk management at 58%, while 54% pointed to greater flexibility and 52% cited access to new technology. Cost savings also remained part of the value equation, suggesting many institutions are evaluating partnerships not only on growth potential but also on their ability to improve operating leverage.
At the same time, PYMNTS said friction remains a meaningful issue. Nearly 64% of credit unions cited misalignment in goals or culture with their fintech partners, and 59% acknowledged internal decision-making complexity as a barrier. Still, the broader direction appears unchanged. PYMNTS said credit unions are becoming more structured and deliberate in how they build these relationships—setting success metrics earlier, mapping integration dependencies before launch and choosing partners based more heavily on compatibility with existing systems—as they treat fintech partnerships as increasingly essential in payments, analytics, risk management and operational efficiency.