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Most banks talking about banking as a service are still stuck in planning mode. Academy Bank actually built the program, and three years of live operations have produced real lessons about what works and what kills deals before they start. Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential, and co-host Stephen Bishop sit down with David Robinson, Director of Fintech and Embedded Banking at Academy Bank, to break down how a family-owned Kansas City institution launched an embedded finance practice without a massive budget. Robinson walks through the compliance expectations that filter out unprepared fintechs, why the bank chose fee income over chasing deposits, and what changed internally when embedded banking finally showed up in every team's annual goals. Whether you are a fintech founder looking for a sponsor bank or a community banker weighing this bet, the operational specifics here go well beyond the usual conference panel talking points.

Banking as a service and embedded finance at Academy Bank get a ground-level breakdown in this episode of Inside the Vault on Fintech Confidential.

A family-owned Kansas City bank decided to build an embedded banking program from scratch, and three years in, the results offer a practical blueprint for every community bank and fintech weighing the same bet.

Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential, is joined by Fintech Confidential Infomant Stephen Bishop, to sit down with David Robinson, Director of Fintech and Embedded Banking at Academy Bank. Robinson came to Academy after stops at State Street and UMB, where he built his fintech operations experience. He joined Academy in December 2022 with a specific mandate: build the bank's embedded banking practice from the ground up. The conversation covers how that build happened, what the bank kept in-house, how the team picks fintech partners, and where the program is heading.

The core tension here is real and unresolved across the industry. Community and regional banks keep hearing they need to get into banking as a service, but most of the public examples come from banks that spent tens of millions standing up programs or, worse, banks that jumped in without the compliance infrastructure and ended up in regulatory trouble. The question facing a bank board right now is whether there is a realistic path to running an embedded program without blowing up the budget or the risk profile. For fintechs, the mirror question is just as pressing: how do you find a sponsor bank that is actually committed to the work and not just collecting fees while dragging its feet on approvals?

Academy Bank sits under Dickinson Financial Corporation alongside Armed Forces Bank, putting the combined organization at roughly $4.8 billion in assets with a stated goal of reaching $6 billion. The embedded banking program is positioned as one of several growth engines alongside mortgage, commercial, and retail. Robinson makes a point that matters to anyone evaluating this model: the bank did not spend $20 million building the program. Instead, Academy built on existing internal capabilities, particularly in consumer compliance, where years of operating Armed Forces Bank as a pure consumer institution gave the team deep experience. The bank chose Treasury Prime as its middleware provider in 2023 specifically because it allowed Academy to extend its capabilities without making existing processes redundant. Since then, the bank has also integrated Lithic for card processing on the Atlas Financial program and is bank-ready on the Q2 Helix platform, making it a multi-platform sponsor bank.

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Skeptics will point out that keeping compliance, BSA, and risk functions in-house sounds good on a conference panel but becomes a resource drain at scale. Robinson addresses that head-on. Academy expects its fintech partners to arrive with their own compliance management systems and to perform their own monitoring, whether that leans more toward fraud or BSA/AML. The bank augments that with internal oversight. A fintech that shows up without a compliance team or cannot speak to basic AML and BSA requirements is a red flag early in the process. Robinson also acknowledges flexibility: the bank will provide a roadmap for a partner to build up those capabilities, and it will work with earlier-stage companies if the composition is right. The key distinction is that Academy treats compliance ownership as a shared responsibility with clear expectations, not a service it outsources to a middleware provider or absorbs entirely on behalf of the fintech.

For fintechs evaluating sponsor banks, the practical signals here are specific. Academy's due diligence process includes detailed questionnaires, financial scrubs, projection modeling, and ongoing strategic dialogue. Robinson describes walking away from deals where questionnaire responses revealed gaps in planning or compliance investment. He also describes a scenario where a fintech pivoted its business model after reaching a term sheet, and Academy stepped back because the new model no longer fit. The bank prefers established partners, favors fee income over interest income, and actively pursues verticals like RIA and high net worth, education, and potentially healthcare. Cannabis, most crypto activity, and cross-border are off the table.

One of the more telling details is how Academy's internal posture has shifted. Robinson describes a period where the embedded banking initiative was mostly visible in his own team's annual goals but barely showed up across compliance, BSA, risk, or legal teams' business unit initiatives. After raising that disconnect with the COO, the most recent round of goal-setting shows embedded banking woven across the organization. That internal alignment is something fintechs rarely get visibility into, but it directly affects how fast approvals move, how quickly change management requests get processed, and whether the bank is actually operating as a committed partner or running a side project.

Academy's 18-to-24-month outlook centers on continued maturation. Robinson positions the embedded program as a proven business that is driving meaningful growth for the organization, not a pilot. The bank is investing in platforms to speed up change management and marketing review cycles, signaling an awareness that fintech partners expect operational velocity, not just strategic commitment.

Anyone running a fintech looking for a sponsor bank, sitting on a bank board weighing embedded finance, or managing compliance for an active BaaS program will find specific, usable perspective in this conversation. Robinson's framing is consistently practical: think it through, build the team, support them, and treat the partnership like a two-way relationship where both sides earn the right to keep going.

A fintech that cannot demonstrate basic AML and BSA knowledge during early conversations signals a compliance gap that will only grow under regulatory pressure. Academy Bank uses detailed questionnaires after initial calls to surface these deficiencies before committing resources to due diligence.

Academy Bank prioritizes fee revenue over interest income on its embedded programs and will not overpay for deposit-heavy deals just to win volume. That pricing discipline gets introduced early in partner conversations so neither side ends up three years into a relationship that only works for one of them.

Running a single middleware provider creates a concentration risk that most active sponsor banks are now moving away from across the industry. Academy Bank operates on Treasury Prime today, has integrated Lithic for card processing, and is bank-ready on Q2 Helix to serve different use cases on different rails.

Dickinson Financial Corporation, the holding company behind Academy Bank and Armed Forces Bank, has set a public goal to grow combined assets from $4.8 billion to $6 billion. Embedded banking is positioned alongside mortgage, commercial, and retail as one of four growth engines expected to drive that increase.

Academy Bank's embedded program was stood up by building on existing internal skill sets rather than purchasing an entirely new technology stack from scratch. That approach challenges the common assumption that community banks need eight-figure budgets before they can credibly enter banking as a service.

One fintech partner reached a term sheet with Academy Bank on a specific use case, then shifted its business model based on market feedback before launch. The bank walked away because the new model no longer matched its risk appetite, and Robinson notes Academy still follows that company's progress to learn from its trajectory.

Academy Bank is actively pursuing the registered investment advisor and high net worth segment as its next embedded banking vertical, with one program in conversation and expected to launch soon. Education and healthcare are also on the target list, while cannabis, most crypto, and cross-border remain outside the bank's risk appetite.

Armed Forces Bank's years as a pure consumer banking institution gave Academy's compliance team deep experience that became a selling point during partner conversations with Atlas Financial. That consumer compliance track record was a specific requirement Atlas evaluated before agreeing to move forward with Academy as its sponsor bank.

Robinson describes early meetings where fintech founders showed minimal interest in the bank's operations, team, or compliance leadership despite the bank being essential to their success. That pattern has shifted as the market has matured, and Academy now treats a fintech's curiosity about the bank's internal processes as a qualification signal.

Two years into the program, embedded banking barely appeared in the annual business unit initiatives of Academy's compliance, BSA, risk, and legal teams. After Robinson raised that gap with the COO, the most recent planning cycle shows embedded work reflected across every support function, directly improving approval speed and change management turnaround.

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Robinson compares sponsor bank meetings to earnings calls and White House press conferences, where no question should catch you off guard. Before your first call with a potential bank partner, build a prep document that covers your compliance posture, financial runway, projected transaction volumes, and a clear explanation of how you make money. Banks are running models on your projections and cutting them down, so if you cannot defend your numbers under pressure, you are not ready for that meeting.

Academy Bank expects fintech partners to show up with an established compliance management system and active monitoring capabilities before the first serious conversation. Stop treating compliance as something the bank will handle for you or something you will figure out later. Build your AML, BSA, and fraud monitoring team now, even if it starts small, because banks are using your compliance investment as a qualification filter before they will even issue a due diligence questionnaire.

Fintechs that only send the founder to bank meetings are leaving credibility on the table. Robinson specifically says banks want to meet the people who will actually deliver services day to day, because issues will come up and the strength of those working relationships determines how fast they get resolved. Bring your head of compliance, your operations lead, and anyone else who will be in regular contact with the bank's teams to those early conversations.

When a bank pushes back on your product design or business model, the instinct is to dismiss it because you know your market better. Robinson's advice is to take that feedback, test it against your own data, and then show the bank how you incorporated or disproved it. That loop builds trust faster than any pitch deck, and it signals you are a partner who can adapt when the market shifts under both of you.

Academy's embedded program gained real organizational traction only after embedded banking showed up in the annual business unit initiatives of every support team, not just the fintech division. If you are a fintech already partnered with a bank and approvals feel slow, ask your bank contact whether embedded work appears in the goals of their compliance, BSA, risk, and legal teams. If it does not, you are competing with every other priority those teams have, and your timelines will reflect it.

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David Robinson brings over 20 years of experience in financial services business development and bank-fintech partnerships. He began his career at State Street, where he held progressively senior client leadership roles spanning management consulting, investment operations, and technology. He then spent nearly seven years at UMB Bank leading fintech partnership business development, primarily in payments. Robinson joined Academy Bank in December 2022 to build the bank's embedded banking practice from the ground up. He now leads partnership strategy and execution for the organization and oversees the Banking as a Service channel. Robinson also supports capital deployment in fintech-focused venture investments through the bank's participation in the JAM FINTOP Network and the Alloy Labs banking consortium.

Academy Bank is a full-service community bank and wholly owned subsidiary of Dickinson Financial Corporation, a privately held holding company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. The bank operates over 70 branch locations across Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri. Academy Bank's sister institution, Armed Forces Bank, serves active and retired military personnel and their families with the most on-base locations of any military bank in the country. Together, the two banks represent approximately $4.8 billion in combined assets. Academy Bank was named one of Fortune Magazine's Most Innovative Companies in 2023. The bank's embedded banking program, launched in late 2022, partners with fintechs through providers including Treasury Prime, Lithic, and Q2 Helix to deliver banking as a service capabilities across deposit, payment, and card programs. CEO Paul Holewinski and COO Tom Kents lead the organization.

Stephen Bishop is President and Founder of amBaaSsador, a strategic advisory and industry ecosystem platform helping financial institutions and fintechs succeed in embedded finance. Prior to amBaaSsador, Steve served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at OMB Bank, where he created and built OMBX, the bank's integrated banking and embedded finance brand. He also held roles at Jack Henry & Associates as Director of Client Services, Citi Bank as Vice President of Offshore Operations, and AT&T as a Senior Financial Analyst. Steve holds two Master's degrees from Washington University in Operations, Finance and Strategy and Information Management. He is co-host of Inside the Vault on the Fintech Confidential network.

amBaaSsador is a strategic advisory and ecosystem platform dedicated to helping banks, fintechs, and service providers succeed in embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service. The firm focuses on clear education, practical strategy, and curated connections, giving clients a neutral place to understand market shifts and choose a path that fits their goals. Its work spans consulting, community programs, training, events, and research, all designed to turn complex BaaS questions into practical, workable plans.

Tedd Huff is a long-time fintech leader with more than 25 years of experience across payments, banking, and software. He is the Founder and CEO of Voalyre and the creator of Fintech Confidential, a network of shows and newsletters focused on how money and payments really work. Over his career he has served as a founder, board member, and executive for multiple startups and has provided strategic direction to organizations such as Global Payments, OpenEdge, Heartland Payment Systems, Nuvei, and TSYS. His work centers on growth, clear strategy, and user experience, and has included collaborations with companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Walmart, Cabela’s, and Restoration Hardware.

Voalyre is a global fintech enablement firm that helps payments and financial technology companies grow with a mix of advisory services and hands-on execution. The firm works with banks, processors, and fintechs on issues such as go-to-market strategy, product and experience design, partner programs, and operational readiness. By combining deep industry experience with practical support, Voalyre helps clients reduce friction in their payments stack and move faster from idea to measurable results.

Fintech Confidential is produced by DD3 Media and hosted by Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential. The show brings you the people, tech, and companies that change how you pay and get paid. New episodes drop weekly across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms.