Why We Built The BaaS Risk Checklist (And What We’re Hoping to Learn)

Over the past year, I’ve had more than a few community bank leaders ask me the same question:

“How can we explore innovation without putting the bank at risk?”

Specifically, a handful of them were talking about Banking as a Service (BaaS). After seeing some high-profile missteps in the headlines over the past 18 months, it’s natural to be cautious. I was cautious, too. At first, I wasn’t sure it made sense for us to explore this space at all.

But deep down, I believe innovation is important—critical, even—for the long-term health of community banking. And like anything new, it comes with risk. So I started researching. I read Jason Mikula’s book (Banking as a Service—highly recommend), dug into regulatory actions, and studied what went wrong in some of the failures. I tried to imagine what I’d want if I were a bank president being asked by my board to “look into BaaS” after a conference or association event.

That’s how this checklist came to be. It’s not an exhaustive guide. It’s just a starting point—67 questions meant to prompt conversation, identify gaps, and bring the right people to the table. If it works as intended, it’ll generate more questions than answers. That’s the goal.

Why share it now?

To be completely candid: we’re exploring.

We’re asking ourselves if there’s something we can bring to the market that helps solve some of these challenges. Could we help banks manage this risk well? Could we connect them with trusted partners if it’s not in our lane? Could we help them pursue this opportunity and protect their institution?

We don’t have a firm answer yet. This checklist is part of figuring that out.

If you download it, you might hear from us with a quick follow-up. Not a pitch—just a check-in to see if it was helpful or if you ran into any sticking points. And if you’d rather reach out directly, we welcome that too. Feedback is gold. What’s missing? What’s unclear? What’s getting in your way?

A note of caution

This isn’t for everyone—and we’re not suggesting it should be.

Out of the ~4,000 community banks in the U.S., less than 200 have ventured into BaaS. And that’s okay. But for the banks who are thinking about it, this tool might help you slow down, ask better questions, and reduce the surprises down the road.

If it helps, use it freely. If you want to talk, we’re here.

And if nothing else, we hope it encourages thoughtful, honest conversations—because that’s how good decisions get made.

—Chris Bedel, Founder, President, & CEO of Bedel Security

References

https://www.bedelsecurity.com/blog/predictions-for-the-future-of-banking-as-a-service