Mastercard bought stablecoin rails, Valley bought deposits and Chime bought its own bank. Two industry voices explain what buyers check first, and the year’s deals show what they will pay for.

For most of the last decade, fintechs raised money to grow on their own. That has changed. With funding tight and valuations reset, more founders are selling, and more banks and payment giants are buying. As a result, fintech acquisitions have become one of the busiest parts of the market in 2026.

So we asked industry leaders one question: what is driving fintech acquisitions right now, and what makes a fintech an attractive or unattractive target? We wanted first-hand deal experience over commentary. Several respondents answered. Neither of the two we have used led a deal, so we set their replies against this year’s biggest transactions.

Buy, don’t build

The year’s largest fintech acquisitions share one theme. Buyers are paying for things that take years to build, such as licences, deposits and working infrastructure. In March, Mastercard agreed to buy stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK for up to $1.8 billion, including $300 million in contingent payments, Fortune reported. Its chief product officer, Jorn Lambert, said the deal was “really about getting the right tools”. The acquisition has since completed.

Banks are using fintech acquisitions to win cheap deposits. In September, Valley National agreed to buy small-business banking fintech Bluevine for $340 million. Bluevine’s deposits cost 1.44%, against Valley’s 2.28%, and Valley’s executives called it a deposit deal, American Banker reported. Bluevine brings about $2.1 billion in deposits and 175,000 small-business clients. Our report on business deposits at sponsor banks explains why those balances are so valuable.

Fintech acquisitions also run the other way, with fintechs buying banks. Also in September, Chime agreed to buy its long-time partner, Stride Bank, for $590 million in cash. Chime expects more than $100 million in net synergies from cutting sponsor bank fees, lowering funding costs and expanding lending, according to its announcement. The deal needs approval from the OCC and the Federal Reserve and is due to close in the first half of 2027.

Capabilities, not user numbers

Our first respondent advises startups on capital raising and evaluates businesses from an investor’s point of view. He was open that he has not led a recent fintech deal himself.

“Fintech acquisitions are increasingly driven by capabilities that would take too long or cost too much to build in-house, such as customer relationships, payment infrastructure, regulatory permissions, distribution and access to new markets. An attractive target needs more than big user numbers. Buyers should look at revenue quality, retention, unit economics, regulatory exposure, technology dependencies and how sustainable its banking or payment partnerships are.

Infrastructure dependency matters most. A fintech can look commercially attractive but lose much of its value if it relies heavily on one bank partner or payment provider. Weak compliance, concentrated revenue, unclear ownership of technology and high customer acquisition costs can make an otherwise promising fintech hard to sell.”

Niclas Schlopsna, Managing Partner, spectup

His point on bank dependency explains the Chime deal. A fintech that relies on one partner bank pays fees, shares economics and carries the risk that the partner walks away. Buying the bank removes all three. However, most fintechs cannot buy a bank, so buyers in other fintech acquisitions price that dependency into the offer. Our explainer on banking-as-a-service describes how those partner models work.

What buyers check first

Our second respondent gave the most practical checklist, while noting that she works as an AI implementation consultant rather than in deal advisory.

“Buyers are paying for licences and regulated customers that would take years to build. The first thing they check is which licence or charter you hold, such as a money transmitter licence or an EMI, or how your banking partnership works. They also want clean numbers: your revenue split between interchange, subscriptions and lending, plus cohort retention and your chargeback and fraud loss rates. Weak KYC and AML controls, reliance on one bank partner and open regulatory findings will kill a deal in diligence. The business also has to run without the founder, so compliance and engineering can’t depend on one person.”

Lilach Bullock, AI Implementation Consultant and Fractional CMO, Lilach Bullock

Her list matches what this year’s fintech acquisitions reward. Licences and charters take years to win, which is why some fintechs apply for their own, as our report on Modern Treasury’s trust bank application showed. Her point on open regulatory findings matters too. A consent order can delay or derail a deal, because the buyer inherits the problem. Therefore, sellers should close out regulatory issues before starting a sale process.

Clean data is just as important. Buyers in fintech acquisitions now expect revenue split by source and cohort, not a single growth chart. A fintech that cannot show how much it earns from interchange versus lending, or how its fraud losses have moved, invites a lower offer or a longer earn-out. In addition, buyers will test whether key controls survive if the founder leaves, because many deals keep founders only for a short handover.

What makes a target unattractive

Price is the other barrier to fintech acquisitions. Many fintechs raised money at 2021 and 2022 valuations, and buyers will not pay those prices now. In January, Capital One agreed to buy Brex for $5.15 billion, about 58% below its $12.3 billion valuation in 2022, according to Trending Topics. For investors with preferred shares, that can still be a good outcome. For founders and later investors, a reset of that size makes them reluctant to agree to fintech acquisitions at today’s prices.

Taken together, the deals and the answers point to a short list of red flags in fintech acquisitions. First, reliance on a single bank or payment partner. Next, weak compliance, open findings or controls that depend on one person. Then, revenue that buyers cannot break down by source, or that sits with a few large customers. Finally, a valuation anchored to a peak that has passed.

What to watch next

Several deals will test fintech acquisitions in 2027. Chime’s purchase of Stride needs regulatory approval, and the decision will show how open US regulators are to fintechs owning banks. Valley will show whether fintech deposits stay cheap after the deal closes. Meanwhile, stablecoin rules in the US and UK are likely to drive more infrastructure deals like BVNK.

Above all, our respondents and the year’s deals agree. Buyers pay for licences, deposits and infrastructure they cannot build fast. Fintechs that own those assets, keep clean numbers and stand on more than one partner will find buyers. Those that do not will find the price falls.

FintechBits covers payments, banking and fintech developments for readers in the US and UK. This article is for information only and is not financial or investment advice. Views expressed are those of the FintechBits editorial team.