Many others are taking a similar approach toward fintech and innovation, partnering with related startups to ultimately either cut costs, improve services or grow revenues — and those things certainly aren’t mutually exclusive.

“At Fifth Third Bank, we see fintech as an opportunity, not a threat. We have always embraced innovation, and our strategy is to buy, partner and/or build, as illustrated by several of our recent innovations,” said Fifth Third Bank president and CEO Greg Carmichael, whose background is in technology, having worked at Emerson as chief information officer and in IT at GE before that, in an emailed statement. “This strategy is driven by the way our customers and clients want to bank, which is anywhere, anytime. Innovation and technology are in the bank’s DNA. Fifth Third was the first bank to introduce a network ATM infrastructure back in the late 1970s.”

One of the bank’s more recent partnerships involves Intellect Global Transaction Banking, whose services include not just payment transactions but cash management, collections and receivables. Designed to support corporate clients, the firm incorporates machine learning and predictive analytics as well.

For smaller banks, which don’t have the scale to even consider building such comparable tech platforms themselves even if they wanted to, fintech partnerships are an important way to compete for market share just like their larger counterparts.

First Federal Lakewood, a mutual bank with roughly $1.8 billion in assets, invested in Boston startup Numerated Growth Technologies in 2017 out of interest in its small business lending app, which was rolled out in the first quarter of this year. The bank, which has a nearly 5% stake in the company, sought that deal because of concerns customers might seek loans through online lenders like Kabbage (which secured $250 million from SoftBank Group last year) or peer-to-peer lending platforms like LendingClub, said Tom Fraser, president and CEO of First Mutual Holding Co. The new app lets First Federal streamline the traditionally slow loan process while maintaining low rates so it can compete not just with fellow banks but non-bank financial institutions.

“It’s moved from being fear or disrespect or a sense of rivalry,” Fraser said of how bankers view the fintech space. “When each sees the benefits the other brings to the table, it makes the partnership easier and creates a sense of trust.”

So are tiny and agile fintech companies really the disruptors of banking they claimed they could be — or wanted to be — years ago?

Bankers don’t seem to think so. The concern has largely faded, at least.

In fact, partnering with them may be a path toward avoiding impacts from the real disruptors. It's quickly becoming a common practice in banking today.

“The true disruptors are the Amazons of the world. The Googles. Those accumulating massive amounts of data consumers in general. They’re the greater threats to banks than any startup fintech is,” Fraser said. “Do we want the banking experience to be in the hands of big data providers such as an Apple or Amazon? Or do we as consumers want trust and access available through the local bank? The local bank can make the customer experience better and easier by working with fintech.”