There are moments in a market when two trends that have been moving independently begin to converge in the same cohort, and the providers who recognize the alignment first end up defining what comes next. The 2026 State of Credit research found two such convergences happening simultaneously, both pointing in the same strategic direction.
Among SMBs, the businesses with the highest near-term credit demand are also the most comfortable with non-bank providers. Among consumers, the ones most interested in flexible credentials (single cards that adapt across debit, credit, and BNPL at the point of purchase) are also the most open to non-bank providers. The same demand signal pairs with the same provider openness across both cohorts.
For fintechs, retailers, and embedded finance partners, these convergences open a strategic window. For incumbent card issuers, they represent a competitive shift that requires a clear response.
The window is open now. The question is who acts on it first.
What the convergences looks like in the data
Two trends are moving in the same direction at the same time, in the same customer segments.
Trend one is comfort with non-bank financial services. 66% of SMBs report being comfortable using non-banks. Among SMBs planning to apply for credit cards in the next 12 months, that comfort rises to 83%, compared to 56% of those who aren't actively shopping for credit. The customers with the most near-term credit demand are also the most open to where they get it.
Trend two is interest in flexible credentials. 36% of consumers overall are interested in flexible credentials, rising to 48% among 18 to 44 year olds and 71% among consumers who already carry multiple credit cards. 82% of SMBs planning to apply for credit cards are interested in flexible credentials.
The convergence sits in the overlap. Consumers interested in flexible credentials are 2x more comfortable with non-bank providers than consumers who aren't. SMBs planning to apply for credit cards are 1.5x more comfortable with non-banks than the general SMB population.
That overlap matters because it identifies a single cohort with two demand signals: a specific product preference and an openness to a specific category of provider. For any provider building credit programs today, the data points to where the highest-intent customers are looking.
Why non-banks have a real path in
The argument for non-bank participation in credit has historically rested on assumptions about brand reach and customer engagement. The 2026 data makes the argument concrete.
When consumers were asked which non-bank providers they would trust to deliver credit and financial services:
- 53% trust established fintechs
- 47% trust large retailers
- 45% trust BNPL providers
SMBs trust non-banks at even higher rates. 66% of SMBs are comfortable using financial services from non-banks overall, rising to 83% among SMBs planning to apply for credit cards in the next 12 months. SMB applicant trust isn't just elevated for fintechs and retailers, it extends across the embedded finance landscape, including marketplaces, vertical SaaS platforms, and other non-traditional providers where SMBs already manage core parts of their operations.
These are trust levels at scale, applied to companies that already have existing customer relationships, transaction histories, and active brand equity to draw on.
The trust extends beyond fintechs and retailers. Embedded finance is no longer the exclusive territory of digital-native companies. Healthcare companies, travel and hospitality brands, marketplaces, gig platforms, and vertical SaaS providers all have something the 2026 data shows the most engaged credit customers value: established relationships within specific contexts where the customer is already making spending decisions. The categories Marqeta works with today extend across exactly that range, and the convergences open entry points for all of them.
What's underneath those trust numbers matters more than the headlines. The drivers customers identify are specific: brand reputation, transparent pricing, and bank-level protections. None of those drivers requires being a bank. They require being credible, clear, and compliant.
The generational data sharpens this further. The 18 to 24 cohort reports only 32% comfort with non-banks when asked in the abstract. But when asked which types of non-bank providers they would trust, 87% name at least one specific brand they're already comfortable with. The headline understates real market openness. What younger consumers reject as a category, they accept as a brand. That asymmetry rewards providers with specific brand equity rather than category positioning, including embedded finance providers with strong vertical brand equity.
For any non-bank already serving these customers, whether consumers or SMBs, the strategic question isn't whether to build credit products. The customers are already asking for them. The question is whether the card issuing infrastructure exists to deploy at the scale and flexibility this cohort expects.
What this means for fintechs, retailers, and embedded finance partners
The convergences are a near-term commercial opportunity, not a long-term trend to monitor. Three specific entry points stand out in the data, each one open to a different range of provider categories.
1. Co-brand credit card programs anchored in existing customer relationships. Retailers with active loyalty programs and 47% baseline consumer trust have the foundations for co-brand credit card programs that compete on customer experience rather than legacy reputation. The same foundations exist for travel and hospitality brands, healthcare providers with patient relationships, and marketplaces with established communities. For these brands, co-brand credit is the entry point to a deeper customer relationship anchored in the contexts customers are already engaging in: payment timing that adapts to need, integration with existing loyalty or membership mechanics, and a credential that serves the customer in the moments they're already shopping or transacting.
2. Flexible credential programs that consolidate existing payment behavior. This entry point matters for both consumers and SMBs.
For consumers: 67% of consumers interested in flexible credentials would replace their current debit card with one. 71% would replace their current credit card. The substitution data describes a real consolidation play that fintechs with multi-product user bases are positioned to deliver.
For SMBs: 82% of SMBs planning to apply for credit cards are interested in flexible credentials, and 89% of those applicants want flexible repayment terms (payment timing that adapts to cash flow rather than fixed monthly minimums). 96% of SMBs are already intentional about which payment method they use for any given transaction. The product they want is a single credential that adapts to that decision-making, with repayment terms that match their actual cash flow. Vertical SaaS providers, marketplaces, and other embedded finance partners with established SMB relationships are positioned to deliver exactly this.
3. Credit builder programs targeting the application pipeline. 22% of consumers applied for a credit card in the past year. 45% were denied at least once. 76% of denied applicants would undergo a credit check to upgrade when their profile is ready. The credit pipeline is wide open for any provider, including fintechs, community lenders, and embedded finance partners serving specific customer demographics, with the customer relationship to support the journey from credit builder to revolving card and the infrastructure to deploy both.
For SMBs, the equivalent opportunity is the personal-to-business credit transition. 43% of SMBs used a personal credit card for business expenses in the past 30 days. 97% of those SMBs identified at least one incentive that would move them to a dedicated business card. The conversion opportunity is real for any provider with the SMB relationship to make that pitch credibly.
These aren't separate strategies. They're three views of the same underlying commercial opportunity: serving a cohort of consumers and SMBs that's actively orchestrating credit and looking for providers who can keep up.
What this means for incumbent issuers
The same data that opens a window for non-banks also surfaces a competitive shift incumbents need to respond to. Customers comfortable with non-banks aren't comfortable because they reject banks. They're comfortable because they've found products in the non-bank ecosystem that serve them better in specific moments.
The drivers of that comfort, including product flexibility, point-of-purchase choice, and customer experience that adapts to context, are not unique to non-banks. They're available to any provider with the right infrastructure. Incumbent issuers who modernize the customer experience around the same drivers will compete effectively for the same cohort.
The strategic question is one of pace. The convergences are happening now. The first providers to deploy the products this cohort wants, regardless of provider category, will be the ones that capture the relationship.
Build for the customers already at the convergence point
Marqeta's card issuing platform powers the infrastructure this requires: flexible credentials that adapt at the point of purchase, co-brand credit programs for retailers and brands, credit builder programs for consumers starting their credit journey, and the graduation paths between them. The companies building for the convergences the research describes are building on Marqeta, because the capability to deploy these programs at scale exists today.
The 2026 State of Credit Report documents the data behind every finding referenced here, plus the rest of the research across 5,000 consumers and SMBs in the US and UK.
Download the full 2026 State of Credit Report for the data behind every finding.
