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Fintech and the evolving landscape

The value of global fintech investment in 2015 grew by 75 percent to $22.3 billion.

Overview

Venture capitalists, private equity firms, corporates and a number of other players have poured an unprecedented amount of money into global financial technology (Fintech) start-ups. More than $50 billion has been invested in almost 2,500 companies since 2010 as these innovators redefine the way in which we store, save, borrow, invest, move, spend and protect money. While Fintech is the poster child that continues to grab headlines, there are signals that the market is reaching the next level of maturity and moving into the mainstream. This report analyzes the latest global Fintech trends, discusses the challenges and opportunities that Fintech companies pose for banks, and looks at how the Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Alibaba (GAFAA) are redefining the landscape and the pervasiveness of technology platforms.

Key Findings

Likely landing points

Building out a set of strategies to stay relevant and endure the pace of change will help banks emerge as digital winners. Below we have outlined an emerging set of strategies:

  • In the near-term: Banks will need to start looking at tactical ways to improve their business models by investing in easily adoptable technologies within the industry.

  • In the medium-term: Banks will benefit from developing a multi-investment and adoption program. Banks should place themselves closer to the center of their customers’ digital lives, embedding customer-centric thinking at the core of the corporate strategy along with the right skillsets at every level of the organization.

  • For the longer-term: Banks will need to consider how they will expand their franchises to develop a service ecosystem around their customers. They need to challenge their own business models, become more relevant to their customers, and access longer-term, but larger, revenue pools.

Recommendations

The analysis of the outcome scenarios and the management of execution risks can seem daunting, but we believe that for now, the incumbent banks remain in a strong position to influence and determine their own destiny. The current wave of disruptive innovation will be seen in five years’ time as having delivered safer, more transparent, efficient and responsive banking services to retail consumers, businesses and market participants alike. Fintech start-ups themselves are not emerging as the main competitive threat for most areas of banking. Banks that can assess, adapt and adopt these new technologies most quickly will be best positioned to achieve their desired position in the new industry structure.


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