That startup mentor told me to focus on banks over credit unions

Back in 2022, this guy from a Toronto fintech accelerator kept pushing me to target the Big Five banks for our payments API. I thought he was full of it because credit unions seemed easier to get into with less red tape. Well, I spent 8 months burning through leads at credit unions and got nowhere - they wanted custom builds for every single one. Finally swallowed my pride and went back to his advice. Landed a pilot with RBC in 3 months flat. The banks actually have standard integration paths and dedicated innovation budgets. Has anyone else found that the obvious advice ends up being the right play?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamie_carter876d ago

Eight months... dude, that's brutal. I really feel for you on that one because credit unions can be such a black hole of time with their "we need everything custom" nonsense. It's wild how the most straightforward advice from someone who's been in the game ends up being the golden ticket, even when it sounds like the boring option. The Big Five having those standard integration paths and actual budgets feels almost too good to be true compared to the endless meetings with credit unions that go nowhere. Glad you finally got that pilot with RBC locked in, that's a massive win after all that wasted time.

the_amy6d ago

No way, they actually wanted everything custom for eight months straight?