In this article, I want to explore the unique and often misunderstood dynamics between fintech companies –  the end brands selling products to users – and the vendors they work with. 

Traditional vendor relationships usually operate under a simple premise: the customer is in charge. The buyer, who spends money and drives revenue for the provider, naturally wields more power. This dynamic is familiar to us as consumers, as evidenced by phrases like "the customer is always right." Companies such as Costco and Nordstrom are famous for their lenient return policies, emphasizing customer satisfaction above all else. These companies realize that keeping the customer happy drives long-term value. In most industries, this is the established norm.

However, the fintech world plays by different rules. The power dynamics between customers and vendors are often entirely reversed. At the heart of this inversion are banking partners. Unlike typical customer-vendor relationships, fintech companies — especially those offering banking products — cannot always control their products because they aren’t chartered depository institutions. Instead, they rely on actual banks to provide these products, and the banks, in turn, contract them out to the fintech brands.