Embedded banking platform Treasury Prime has recently laid off half of its staff as part of a strategic pivot to sell directly to banks.
Since its launch in 2017, Treasury Prime has primarily offered its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions to fintech companies to facilitate connections with traditional banking services. However, CEO Chris Dean noted in a blog post that “the future of embedded banking is through bank-direct, fintech partnerships.” He emphasized that “the market is settling on this model, and it’s happening fast.”
In response to evolving market dynamics, Treasury Prime is introducing a new Bank-Direct product. This offering is designed to enable banks to manage the entire lifecycle of direct relationships with fintech customers, covering sales, onboarding, management, and support.
The company’s strategic shift is also taking place amid a trend where many banks are enhancing their in-house fintech business development capabilities and actively pursuing fintech deals. Additionally, banking regulators are scrutinizing fintech partnerships, prompting some institutions to reevaluate their collaborations.
To align with this new direction, Treasury Prime will restructure its sales strategy and form a dedicated business development group. This team will specialize in assisting banks in securing relationships with large fintech customers. Dean stated, “As we sharpen our focus to support banks as they target the largest and most innovative fintechs with the Bank-Direct product, we need to rethink the way we are organized.” Unfortunately, this reorganization means that some talented team members will be leaving the firm or transitioning to different roles within the company.