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"Starbucks will never become a bank!" I watched some credit union executives laugh at the notion of open banking policies. It wasn't that Starbucks would become a bank, but it did forecast a future of open banking policies. Where the public will have the option of where they really want to custody their assets.
Credit union executive teams need a crash course in what is happening across digital banking right now. Anthropic, Claude, open banking APIs, agentic AI, fintech banking charters, and OCC activity are all pointing to the same reality: banking infrastructure is being rewritten in real time.
The old question was, “Will technology companies become financial institutions?” Today, that line is getting thinner by the month. AI is moving into member service, compliance, onboarding, fraud detection, personalization, financial wellness, and digital banking infrastructure.
For credit unions, this is not the time to watch from the sidelines. This is the time to get educated, move with clarity, and understand how fast the next era of banking is forming.
The open banking era is officially on.
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