The Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES), an industry-led organization, has announced the formation of its Bank Advisory Committee. This committee aims to formalize bank participation in CFES’s standards development and certification work, reinforcing ecosystem-wide alignment around best practices in compliance and risk management for bank-fintech partnerships.
The committee includes FinWise, First Bank of the Lake, and Thread Bank, institutions recognized for leveraging standards to strengthen compliance and risk management within their fintech programs. These banks contribute practical experience in managing fintech relationships, from initial due diligence to ongoing monitoring, alongside a deep understanding of how examiners evaluate third-party risk management programs. By incorporating insights from banks of varying asset sizes and complexity, CFES seeks to ensure its standards are scalable and adaptable across the industry.
“We joined the Bank Advisory Committee because they play a critical role in establishing clear, actionable standards that balance innovation with safety in the bank/fintech ecosystem,” stated Ana Liza Grandner, Executive Vice President and Chief Payments Officer at First Bank of the Lake. “By bringing banks, fintechs, and industry leaders together around a common compliance framework, it streamlines partnerships, strengthens risk management, and builds trust across the financial services landscape. For our institution, joining the committee reinforces our commitment to responsible growth, operational excellence, and industry leadership.”
Committee members will provide ongoing feedback to ensure CFES’s five-level maturity scale accurately reflects various nonbank business models, risk profiles, and growth stages from a bank’s perspective. The group will also help refine CFES’s certification workflow to ensure the process is operationally efficient and regulatorily valuable. Beyond these technical contributions, members will serve as a leadership platform for other banks seeking guidance on compliance best practices, regulatory updates, and policy developments that promote innovation while maintaining consumer protection and financial stability.
“Thread Bank is dedicated to executing on our strategic plan to deploy scaled embedded banking solutions and evolve the traditional community banking model for long-term stability, while never compromising our commitment to risk management and compliance,” said Chris Black, CEO, President, and member of the Board of Directors of Thread. “We can’t do this without strong coordination with our partners. That’s why we joined the committee, to demonstrate the importance of collaboration while keeping regulatory soundness at the center of how we build embedded banking partnerships for the long-term.”
The committee’s launch occurs amidst increasing complexity in bank-fintech partnerships, which are challenging traditional regulatory frameworks, and rising regulatory scrutiny that calls for clearer standards and industry accountability. Community banks, in particular, face pressure to modernize and compete with larger institutions, making robust fintech partnerships increasingly essential.
“When banks and fintechs are aligned on standards and transparency, it not only strengthens individual partnerships, but the entire ecosystem,” commented Sima Gandhi, Co-Founder of CFES. “This committee builds on the foundation of collaboration we’ve established and brings long-term structure to the role banks play in ensuring responsible growth.” The committee aims to support enhanced due diligence efficiency by enabling banks to evaluate fintechs through holistic assessments of both documented policies and operational execution. The certification process also offers increased regulatory transparency through independent validation aligned with supervisory expectations. Ultimately, the committee seeks to support competitive innovation by providing community banks with the tools to pursue fintech partnerships confidently.
CFES, a member-led coalition, is dedicated to empowering policymakers and industry innovators to drive sound growth in financial services. In partnership with FS Vector, CFES develops audit-ready standards for risk management and compliance in bank-nonbank partnerships. The organization also focuses on frameworks and guidance that address critical gaps in financial services where technological progress outpaces existing guidance. CFES continues to invite additional financial institutions interested in participating in the Bank Advisory Committee.
