Choice Bank Joins Bankers Helping Bankers BaaS Association to Drive Fintech Innovation

Choice Bank has joined the newly launched Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) Association, a move that highlights the growing necessity for standardized regulatory advocacy in the sponsor bank sector. As fintech demand outstrips the supply of partner banks, this membership signals a push toward formalizing the frameworks that govern how community banks support non-bank financial technology providers.

What was announced

Choice Bank has joined the newly launched Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) Association, a body specifically established to support the needs of BaaS sponsor banks. The association aims to coordinate legislative and regulatory advocacy to ensure a stable environment for federally-insured depository institutions delivering services to non-banks. It also focuses on establishing industry best practices and standards, creating a community for peer-to-peer insight sharing, and connecting financial institutions with fintech technology partners.

The initiative addresses a significant supply-demand imbalance in the current market. Despite a surge in fintech funding and a steady stream of new startups, there is a shortage of BaaS-capable banks to handle the hundreds of fintech applicants seeking infrastructure partners. The association notes that while BaaS participants are primarily community banks, they represent a highly profitable segment of the industry, often ranking in the top 1% for both innovation and earnings. By joining, Choice Bank aligns itself with these institutions to further develop its digital offerings and ensure its banking services remain accessible as more customers transition away from traditional branch-based models to digital-first banking solutions.

"BaaS banks are mostly community banks, a few are larger, but one thing they have in common is that they are the top-earning banks in the United States. These elite bankers are the top 1% in both profitability and innovation, representing the greatest hope in a generation for the future of community banking,"

Tanner Mayo, Co-Founder of the BaaS Association.

The companies involved

Choice Bank, accessible at bankwithchoice.com, is a financial institution that has increasingly focused on the digital community and the fintech sector. The bank positions itself as an innovation-led organization, building teams specifically designed to facilitate the migration of customers to digital banking platforms. By acting as a sponsor bank, it provides the underlying regulatory and deposit infrastructure that allows non-bank fintechs to offer financial products to the public.

The BaaS Association is an offshoot of the Bankers Helping Bankers (BHB) initiative, a platform designed to foster collaboration among community bankers. The association specifically serves the "sponsor bank" niche—a highly specialized area of finance where federally-insured institutions partner with technology firms. Most members are community banks that have utilized the BaaS model to drive significant profitability and innovation, often outperforming larger national peers in specific growth metrics. The association provides these institutions with a unified voice in Washington and a framework for managing the complex compliance requirements inherent in third-party fintech partnerships.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously covered the technological and regulatory shifts impacting the community banking sector. This includes the Montana Bankers Association Endorses Stablecore for Digital Asset Technology, which highlighted the growing interest in digital assets among traditional associations. We have also reported on the infrastructure providers enabling these shifts, such as when Sandbox Banking Secures $4.3M in Seed Funding to streamline integrations for banks and credit unions. Other relevant developments include ModusBox Secures $7.5 Million to accelerate innovation for community financial institutions, and the regional growth of Choice Financial Group Enters Pennsylvania.

What this means

The formation and expansion of the BaaS Association marks a defensive and offensive consolidation of the sponsor bank market. For years, BaaS has operated in a fragmented environment where individual banks negotiated bespoke deals with fintechs, often facing inconsistent regulatory feedback. As federal agencies increase scrutiny on third-party risk management, banks are realizing that collective advocacy and standardized best practices are no longer optional. This move puts pressure on institutions attempting to enter the BaaS space without a rigorous compliance framework. The central question for the sector is whether these self-imposed standards will satisfy regulators or if they are merely a precursor to more stringent federal mandates.