Strategic Alliances in SME Banking: How Nordea and Mynt Are Redefining Financial Innovation

In 2025, the SME banking sector stands at a crossroads. Digital transformation is no longer a choice but a necessity, as small and medium-sized enterprises demand faster, smarter, and more personalized financial tools. Legacy banks, long burdened by outdated infrastructure and slow decision-making, are increasingly turning to fintechs to bridge the gap. The collaboration between Nordea Bank Abp and Mynt AB—Sweden's rising fintech star—exemplifies this shift. By embedding Mynt's white-label technology into its SME banking platform, Nordea is not only modernizing its offerings but also signaling a broader trend: the fusion of institutional trust and fintech agility is reshaping the financial ecosystem.

The Nordea-Mynt Partnership: A Case Study in Synergy

Nordea's partnership with Mynt, announced in early 2025, is a masterclass in strategic alignment. Mynt, a fintech founded in 2018 and backed by investors like Visa Inc. and Vor Capital, specializes in white-label solutions for corporate financial management. Its technology, now integrated into Nordea's SME platform, streamlines processes such as company card usage, employee reimbursements, and real-time accounting. For SMEs, this means reduced administrative friction and better cash flow visibility. For Nordea, it's a way to compete with nimble fintechs that have traditionally outpaced banks in digital innovation.

Baltsar Sahlin, Mynt's CEO, highlights the partnership's mutual benefits: “Banks like Nordea have unmatched customer trust and distribution networks, but they often lack the technical agility to build cutting-edge tools in-house. By collaborating with Mynt, Nordea can deliver modern solutions without sacrificing its core strengths.” This dynamic is critical for legacy banks, which must balance the need for rapid innovation with the operational complexity of scaling new technologies.

A Broader Trend: Legacy Banks Go Fintech-First

Nordea's move reflects a systemic shift in the banking industry. Over 67% of SME transactions are now digital, and AI-powered tools have slashed credit decision times by nearly half. Yet, legacy banks still lag in areas like embedded finance and real-time data analytics—domains where fintechs excel. The solution? Strategic partnerships.

Consider Fifth Third Bank's acquisition of Rize Money, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform, or NatWest's collaboration with Vodeno Group to launch a BaaS business in the UK. These alliances enable legacy institutions to offer SMEs the same seamless experiences they expect from fintechs—without overhauling their entire infrastructure. The results are measurable: banks with embedded finance products see a 31% increase in SME retention, while those leveraging predictive analytics boost cross-selling success by 26%.

Nordea's financials underscore the viability of this approach. In Q2 2025, the bank achieved a 16.2% return on equity (ROE), with a CET1 capital ratio of 15.6%—a testament to its disciplined capital management. The bank has also launched a €250 million share-buyback program, signaling confidence in its ability to generate returns while reinvesting in digital infrastructure. For investors, this combination of profitability and strategic reinvestment is a compelling signal.

The Investment Opportunity: Fintech-Enabled Banking Ecosystems

The fintech sector itself is evolving. While hypergrowth strategies of the 2020s have given way to sustainable, value-driven models, the sector remains a key driver of SME banking innovation. Fintechs like Mynt are now valued not for their user acquisition rates but for their ability to plug gaps in legacy systems.

Investors should focus on two categories:
1. Fintechs with BaaS and embedded finance expertise: These firms, such as Mynt, are positioned to benefit from legacy banks' need for modular, scalable solutions. Mynt's €22 million Series B funding in 2024, led by Vor Capital and Visa, underscores its potential to scale.
2. Banks actively acquiring or partnering with fintechs: Nordea's expansion into SME banking, alongside peers like Fifth Third and NatWest, highlights a growing trend. These banks are prioritizing digital-first strategies, with 52% of banking leaders now ranking digital transformation as their top priority.

The Urgency for Capital Alignment

The shift toward fintech-enabled banking ecosystems is accelerating. SMEs are increasingly adopting digital tools at a pace outstripping traditional banking innovation. For example, 78% of global SMEs now use digital-only banking solutions, and AI-driven expense tracking has become a standard feature in fintech platforms. Legacy banks that fail to adapt risk losing market share to pure-play fintechs or being outpaced by their more agile peers.

Investors must act swiftly to align with this shift. Capital allocated to fintechs with strong BaaS capabilities or banks with robust digital transformation roadmaps will likely outperform in the coming years. Nordea's collaboration with Mynt is not an anomaly—it is a blueprint for how legacy institutions can leverage fintechs to remain competitive.

Conclusion: The Future of SME Banking Is Collaborative

The Nordea-Mynt partnership is a microcosm of a larger transformation. By combining Nordea's institutional strength with Mynt's technical agility, the duo is setting a new standard for SME banking. For investors, the takeaway is clear: the future belongs to those who can bridge the gap between tradition and innovation. As the financial ecosystem evolves, capital aligned with fintech-enabled banking ecosystems will not only survive but thrive.

The time to act is now.