Community Banks Grapple with Fintech Competition as Card Credit Holds Steady

Forty-one percent of community bank customers use fintech services as much as or more than their bank, according to a fourth-quarter 2025 survey from S&P Global Market Intelligence, highlighting a shift toward nonbank platforms for payments, credit, and other routine financial activity. This dynamic is increasing pressure on community banks to prioritize partnerships that integrate such capabilities into their existing platforms, S&P wrote.

Another S&P article discussed how 30-plus-day delinquency rates at the five largest U.S. credit card issuers were 1.30% in February, up slightly from 1.27% in January but 6 basis points below a year earlier, pointing to stable card performance.