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CFES

Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards

About: CFES is an industry-led organization open to banks, fintechs, and other companies that develops standards to promote effective risk management and compliance in financial services. CFES was founded in 2024 and incubated by FS Vector, the strategic advisory firm for companies innovating in financial services

Why: Technology increasingly drives financial services, reshaping risk in products, operations, and even partnerships between non-banks and banks. Technology evolves quickly, and so too should best practices that support safe and sound financial services innovation and growth. We believe industry-led standards play an important role in defining clear risk management and compliance standards to balance quick-moving innovation with safety.

Members: CFES members represent partnerships across a set of expertises including the provision of lending services, payment processing, open banking, and stablecoins. Our members provide input that ensures standards reflect compliance rigor that keeps up with evolving technologies and banking partnerships.

Alignment on compliance and risk management expectations across the financial services ecosystem

Clearer guidelines and procedures for modern financial services products

Competitive markets and products with greater consumer choice

The Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES) presents a comprehensive analysis of bank-nonbank partnerships in financial services. This white paper examines partnership models, market impacts, and regulatory challenges, offering key recommendations to foster innovation while ensuring compliance and consumer protection.