What is the banks' role in determining speed to market for BaaS, and how does that impact the value proposition of BaaS providers?

Guest: So from a speed-to-market perspective, it's definitely the case with i2c, and I know with Galileo, if they just focus on getting a program up and running, they can move very quickly and Marqeta, I assume that they're the same as well. They can move pretty quickly to get a new program up, ranging anything from probably three to six weeks. 

However, when you put the bank in the mix, because they've got to check all the boxes from a compliance perspective and make sure that everything's in place, that ends up taking a lot more time. Typically, you're looking at three to four months when the bank gets involved in that.

And a lot of that is really waiting on each other. So, the FinTech is waiting on the bank to identify, Hey, what compliance documentation do I need? And once they get that, then the FinTech has to implement that and document that they've implemented it, pass it back to the bank. So the banks waiting on the FinTech while they're implementing the compliance. And then once they pass it back to the bank, the bank has to review it. And so you have a lot of manual processes there where it just takes people time to read them and review them. And so that's what really ends up taking a lot of time from a value add perspective.

There's value in that because if the bank were to skimp on compliance or not be as thorough as they should, then there are risks to the program in the future, the regulators could come in and say, "Hey, we have to shut this program down until it adheres to all of the compliance regulatory items." 

And so sure it seems like the bank is maybe the slow ones in the puzzle here, but in the end, there's actually value there for them to do that. Now, could they be more efficient in their processes? Sure.

They could probably come up with different ways that it may just be a resource question where they need to add more people, but from the process of implementing a new program and getting it up and going, there's from a value add perspective, everyone's got a piece to play in that. 

And I would say the processors probably have the most moving parts, just because of the fact that they're getting that program up. They're working with the networks, or working with the banks, or working with the FinTechs to get all that going. And when I say the processors I'll include the BaaS providers in that as well, they’ve got quite a bit to do there.