Survey of BaaS and FinTech executives finds access to expanded FDIC deposit insurance has become a differentiator in winning and retaining deposits amid heightened regulatory scrutiny and shifting customer expectations.
New York, NY — May 14, 2026 – R&T Deposit Solutions, a leading provider of insured deposit and liquidity management solutions, today released a new report revealing a fundamental shift in how banks and FinTechs compete for deposits. In an increasingly price-sensitive market, equally powerful growth drivers have emerged – strategy, safety, trust, and transparency – giving banks more ways to compete. Access to expanded FDIC deposit insurance is also increasingly viewed as a key differentiator, with 3 in 4 executives saying it’s highly important to winning and retaining deposits.
The report, “Safety, Scale, and the Trust Dividend: How Deposit Insurance Innovation Powers the Partner Banking Economy,” is based on a February 2026 survey of Banking‑as‑a‑Service (BaaS) and FinTech executives. It highlights how recent bank failures and heightened regulatory scrutiny around deposit protection are rapidly reshaping customer decision‑making and redefining what it takes to compete in today’s partner-bank ecosystem. The report also found that access to expanded FDIC deposit insurance coverage is becoming a front-end driver of deposit acquisition, not just an operational necessity.
“The way deposits are won has fundamentally changed,” said Susan Cosgrove, CEO of R&T Deposit Solutions. “Rates still matter, but trust is now identified as a primary growth driver. Customers want clarity around where their money is held and how it’s protected, and institutions that can deliver that transparency are gaining a measurable competitive edge.”
Deposit Protection Moves to the Center of Competition
Deposit protection has moved from a compliance requirement to a competitive differentiator, especially in partner banking, where reputation and scale must be proven and reinforced.
Notable findings include:
- 96% of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) executives have already adopted a deposit insurance platform
- 86% of BaaS executives strongly agree that deposit insurance platforms are a differentiator for their business
- 47% of BaaS and FinTech executives strongly agree that BaaS is one of the fastest-changing areas of the banking ecosystem
- More than one-third of BaaS executives plan to prioritize investment in deposit insurance platforms in the next year. Together, this data highlights that access to expanded deposit insurance is increasingly foundational to scale, resilience, and revenue growth in partner banking models.
Regulatory Expectations Outpacing Operating Models
While confidence in current approaches remains high, executives acknowledge growing strain between regulatory expectations and operational readiness:
- Nearly 50% of respondents say regulatory expectations are evolving faster than most organizations’ operating models can adapt
- 54% of FinTech executives identify regulatory uncertainty as one of their biggest upcoming challenges
- At the same time, 8 in 10 executives say they have high confidence that their current deposit insurance platform model would withstand regulatory scrutiny
This tension highlights a market at an inflection point, where perceived readiness must keep pace with rapidly evolving supervisory expectations.
“Regulators and customers are demanding more visibility, faster controls, and stronger proof points around deposit protection,” said Kevin Bannerton, Chief Business Development Officer at R&T Deposit Solutions. “Institutions are responding by modernizing their infrastructure and prioritizing scalable, compliant models that can evolve as oversight increases.”
Customer Behavior Is Shifting Toward Safety and Transparency
Executives also expect meaningful changes in how customers evaluate where they place their money:
- 73% of executives expect increased sensitivity to where funds are held
- All respondents agree or strongly agree that verifiable access to FDIC deposit insurance is critical to earning customer trust
- All executives report updating their processes to address heightened customer awareness around deposit safety, including stronger oversight, closer monitoring of volatility, and more transparent communications.
As transparency becomes a baseline expectation, institutions that can clearly demonstrate how deposits are protected will be better positioned to retain and grow balances.
Survey Methodology
R&T Deposit Solutions conducted this survey in February 2026, collecting responses from 200 U.S.-based BaaS and FinTech executives, evenly split between the two groups. All participants were senior-level, full-time professionals with five or more years of experience in their current role.
Click here to download the report.
About R&T Deposit Solutions
Celebrating 50 years in the industry, R&T Deposit Solutions is the second-largest reciprocal deposit platform providing cash management and deposit placement programs to financial institutions. Through its technology-enabled services, R&T helps banks, credit unions, broker-dealers, trust companies, and wealth managers meet their unique cash sweep and deposit funding needs. As a recognized leader in the administration of deposit networks, R&T’s Demand Deposit Marketplace® (DDM®) program provides banks and other depository institutions access to billions of dollars in reciprocal deposits and the ability to support their customers’ deposit insurance needs. R&T is a portfolio company majority owned by private equity firms GTCR and Estancia Capital Partners. For more information, please visit https://www.rnt.com. Click here for a list of R&T’s receiving institutions. R&T is not an FDIC-insured institution. FDIC insurance applies only in the event of the failure of an FDIC-insured institution. Certain conditions must be satisfied for FDIC pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply.
Media Contacts
Prosek Partners
Kara Curtis
kcurtis@prosek.com
R&T Deposit Solutions
Melissa Kaiser
mkaiser@rnt.com