The Key To A Successful Fintech Partnership

One of the key messages and purposes of the 2018 Benzinga Global Fintech Awards is bringing leading people and companies of fintech together to meet, network and grow the industry. When brands in the fintech space take advantage of these opportunities, it can often lead to successful partnerships.

One example of these successful partnerships is the work being done between PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL and Acorns.

Benzinga's Spencer White on Wednesday sat down with Denise Leonhard, General Manager of Finance and Tech of PayPal, and Manning Field, COO of Acorns Investing, to discuss what makes a prosperous partnership.

Culture And Customer

For both executives, the importance of clear, customer-based missions is important in a efficient partnership.

"When we started having conversations with Acorns, the missions aligned very well. When you have a shared mission, you can also execute better," Leonhard explained.

On a similar note, one word summed up Field's idea of what makes a successful partnership: culture.

"(Culture) is the starting point... If that's misaligned with the customer, that for us is a nonstarter. So we've said no to many of those opportunities (where culture hasn't aligned)," he noted.

White wanted to know about the factors that led either executive to shy away from partnerships. Leonhard compared the process of deciding on a potential partner to that of selecting applicants for a job.

"It's (selecting a potential partner) very similar to almost applying for a job," said Field. "You have to have people with experience, technology or platform build. You need to have technical expertise that you get excited about. Then you ask, 'do our teams work well together?' That's the key component."

Related Links:

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