¿Es Fintech un disruptor o un activador para los grandes bancos?
Fintech siendo percibido como un disruptor es en gran parte debido al hecho de que las nuevas empresas tienen la libertad de ser ágiles.
En 2016 el término ‘Fintech’ apareció en la prensa global 90.000 veces y en múltiples ocasiones en medios sociales. Sin embargo, esta exageración no se ha limitado al dominio del texto, ya que la arena también ha explotado con una explosión de carteras Fintech. En un estudio realizado por Citigroup en 2015, encontraron que las inversiones Fintech superaron los $ 19 mil millones, lo que representa un aumento de diez veces a partir de 2010.
Brotando como narcisos en todo el mundo, los startups de Fintech son apenas clasificados como cualquier negocio con un enfoque principal en las finanzas. Esto incluye pagos (como carteras digitales y criptocurrencias), financiación (por ejemplo, crowdfunding y préstamos peer-to-peer), inversiones (por ejemplo, robo advisers y comercio social), seguros (por ejemplo, insuretech y seguros sociales) e infraestructura (Plataformas de comercialización).
Pros y Contras
Sin embargo, para la banca establecida legado, ¿es todo esto bueno o malo? ¿Las start ups de fintech parecen ser un disruptor o un activador para los grandes bancos establecidos? El argumento a favor de que fintech se percibe como un disruptor es en gran parte debido al hecho de que las start ups de fintech tienen la libertad de ser mucho más ágiles. No están sobrecargadas con sistemas de tecnologÃa heredados y regulaciones restrictivas. Ambos limitan el alcance del desarrollo digital que puede alcanzar una firma de servicios financieros establecida.
This means that start-ups have the freedom to more efficiently and creatively create mobile-based products or services that make them comparatively more attractive than large banks. For example, mobile banks have sprung up in the last year, such as Monzo, Starling, Tandem, and Atom, all of which offer accounts that allow customers to manage their money and lifestyle.
These fintech companies have been successful because they have focused their efforts on building services that fill in the gaps left by the big banks. Increasingly, clients want to be able to manage their finances on their own and these Fintech startups allow them to do just that.
Fintech groups also pursue a range of important operations, from sending international payments, to trading on the stock markets to applying for a mortgage via video. Today, there are also marketing platforms, both on the web and mobile, that make the investing experience accessible to people of different levels of experience and skill. This attracts many traders, who on the one hand could not afford the advice of a broker, but at the same time, they know that they do not have the experience and knowledge to do it alone.
However, there are many who are of the opposite opinion who say that fintech developments are set to be an enabler for established financial services companies. With enormous capital, they are in a position to invest in these technologies and take a more innovative approach to attract new customers, lower costs and increase profits.
First, banks can take advantage of the technology that is produced to reduce their own expenses and increase their efficiency. By transporting their customers to a digital offering, banks could reduce physical branches and optimize staff productivity, without compromising their level of customer service.
Pain points
The emergence of Fintech has motivated banks to consider their pain points, so that they can be solved through technological innovation. For example, instead of going to a bank to deposit a check abroad, customers can deposit it using their phone instead.
However, not only limited to the cost saving sphere, banks can also look to fintech for ways to increase their revenue. Automated conversion tools can enable banks to target new customers and expand into foreign markets with fewer constraints in terms of resource constraints.
According to Guy Paz, Head of Technical Operations at Leverate: “The biggest challenges banks face are their legacy computer systems, which are costly to maintain and pose operational risks. Fintech is predisposed to offer a solution, as it tends to offer easy programs. to use that have been developed from the latest concepts in design thinking and technology. For clients, these programs are attractive while for banks they represent a competitive advantage. “
In addition, banks can look to fintech as a means to allow their income growth with higher margin and through less capital-intensive programs, such as insurance or wealth management. By incorporating fintech applications such as robo advisers and automation into their operating model, they then have the means to scale their businesses more quickly to provide services to previously unprofitable customers in their customer service systems.
Rather than fight or deny the trend, the best option for big banks is to go with the trends by incorporating the innovative technology that Fintech companies are developing in their own operations, as much as possible. The reality is that not everything is easy for startups as they often lack the compliance and risk management expertise required to make their products relevant in the long term. Partnering with an established bank can therefore mean an optimal solution for both.
