‘Blockchain Revolution’ Comes to Wall Street at Nasdaq Event
The authors of “#Blockchain #Revolution” spoke this morning about their latest published work at an #event hosted by #Nasdaq.
fintech techcrunch
Updates from May, 2016 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
user
-
user
On Blockchain Disillusionment and Bitcoin’s Big Bad Wolves
Beneath the headlines, there’s arguably been the early stirrings of a sea change in the #blockchain industry.
fintech techcrunch -
user
Former State Street Blockchain Lead Launches Post-Trade Startup
#State #Street’s #former #blockchain #lead has launched a new #startup focused on using the tech to “redesign” the securities services industry.
fintech techcrunch -
user
UK Regulator fosters innovative collaboration in financial services
Last month and after many weeks of planning, my company supported the FCA to design and deliver a highly collaborative two day hackathon focused on improving access to financial services. You can look this up on Twitter using the hashtag FCAsprint. To our knowledge, this was the first event of its kind by any regulator worldwide and saw big name brands come together with a shared purpose including KPMG, Visa Europe, Funding Circle, Lloyds Banking Group, the Post Office, iProov, HCL Financial Services, Fidor and the Financial Services Consumer Panel.
Chris Woolard, Director of Strategy and Competition at the FCA had this to say:
“The TechSprint was a new way of working for the FCA. Over the course of two days participants came together to generate solutions and foster innovation at pace”.
“The enthusiasm, energy and creativity shown during the event demonstrates that there is huge potential for collaboration between the #FinTech community and those more established within the industry”.
This event was lively, the energy in each room and across twitter was inspiring. The friendly competition between break out teams, within the context of everyone being in it together, was a truly unique experience. Post event I remain inspired by how individuals broke down their usual barriers to work together. Could it be that the interaction between companies who may otherwise consider themselves competitors was the genuine innovation?
“Competition makes us faster. Collaboration makes us better.”
Collaboration between different organisation types can yield benefits if managed well. Small Fintechs are attributed with being agile and more open to taking risks, however they can be held back by the financial complications of such an approach. Small and large working together leverages the best of both, with the small Fintechs having the financial backing of the large established organisation to take the chance.
There are great examples of large organisations utilising the benefits of small agile start-ups to test and grow an idea before sweeping in with the scale and customer base to make it commercially viable. BBVA Compass announced their strategic partnership with Atom in 2015, in order to utilise their digital banking services to serve a growing demand in the UK. Atom has the right product in the right place, and BBVA the experience and stature to drive growth in line with changing customers’ demands. Early in 2016 JP Morgan announced their new service Chase, which through their partnership with alternative lender OnDeck, enabled them to break in to the online lending market.
It is not just finance organisations enjoying the fruits of collaboration to improve customer experience. For instance, I hear of fashion designers working alongside publishers to directly link consumers from the clothes they see in glossy magazines to a retailer with the item in stock. This mutual effort gives the consumer a fantastic experience they will not forget.
When the time is right
Designing collaboration into strategic ventures from day one is where I see innovation actually transcending. Currently we have cash rich established firms with the route to market taking quick wins from start-ups who have developed their innovation far enough to get noticed. Innovation labs and accelerators have tried to start these relationships earlier by offering mentoring and support for businesses. Take for example, Lab 126 that enabled Amazon to bring products such as the Kindle and in the US the Amazon Dash Button to market.
Taking this further could potentially see traditional competitors working side by side on developments that will see industry benefit. All parties come to the table with open books and share responsibility and results from their research. Together these teams develop a solution that is better than would be produced working in isolation. I can think of a few opportunities in financial services where this makes sense.
Stop, collaborate and listen
By collaborating organisations and industries stand a better chance of finding the innovative solutions to the issues they face. This isn’t as easy as putting two groups of people in to a room and letting them get on with it. It requires a shift in attitude by employees who are more comfortable keeping developments closely guarded until they are ready for launch. The decision to be open needs to filter throughout from board to project team members. Individuals who share make learning faster and better for the teams around them. Individuals on teams created with innovation in mind need to understand their common goal and what they and those around them bring to the table. Teams need to respect each other’s contributions and be open to their ideas being developed, dropped, changed, reworked and critiqued. Facilitators employed within teams can help make the interactions happen; they understand who is doing what and who can help them, and bring the two parts together.
It’s more than an office
Moving from a large corporate machine to managing my own business this year has exposed just how different these environments are. To be effective however, leaders must find a way to merge different organisations to create an environment conducive to stimulating the minds of the team. The physical space can be an enormous influence. Innovation rarely happens around a conference room table in a boardroom. Space needs to inspire and be flexible enough to encourage and facilitate interaction. Budgets need to be considered, along with the governance and process to draw down funds quickly, it is possible to alienate individuals from smaller organisations by expecting them to have the same processes seen within large companies.
Finally, having the right tools to enable effective sharing of documents and test ideas safely and seamlessly is essential. There is no bigger barrier to collaboration than systems fighting each other. If sharing becomes laborious it stops and in turn, collaboration breaks down. Simple systems that can be accessed by all are essential. These may require an adjustment to traditional procedures for some companies, but finding a secure process everybody is comfortable with will make or break collaboration.
All of this assumes the right leadership to begin with and as I reflect back on our FCASprint, it strikes me that our real success was the innovation in how things get done. A handful of people wanted to try something new and in communicating this, many others volunteered their time and resources to make it happen. This begins with visionary leadership, pulling your head up to see past today and towards a future more compelling for your customers and employees. Click here to watch the FCASprint video!
[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/darylwilkinson” connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”Daryl Wilkinson”] is Managing Director, DWC.
-
user
Old days at the branches, new days at the app
Last week I attended the Revolution Banking 2016 in Madrid, a conference where many bankers, Tech vendors and #FinTech founders gathered to see the latest trends in retail banking, payments and customer experience. It was an incredible opportunity to listen first hand to top executives from the different financial institutions, explaining how they managed to turn obstacles into opportunities for success.
It’s clear that #banks drove many of the innovations brought to the Spanish market. All the big ones were there to share what they’ve done lately and their plans to keep bringing more and more products and services to delight their customers:
However the most interesting panel of all was reserved to the very last. The topic? To understand how a “bunch” of guys from Germany have broken the market: Number26. The presentation was called “Revolutionizing the banking experience”.
The room was full of bankers, in fact there were many people standing, as everyone wanted to know how this FinTech startup managed to get 160.000 customers in 8 countries!! Incredible figures but the most important thing they’ve brought back to banking is how users can find banking appealing and exciting. I even saw bankers recording the session like if it was one of the brilliant keynote from Steve Jobs announcing one of the new gadget.It was indeed the very first time Number26 gave a speech in Spain. And it’s Nicolas Koop (Business Manager) the responsible to explain how CX is driving the market today and how companies from different sectors are pursuing the ultimate goal of delighting their customers by offering the very best experience regardless of the service provided.
As slides went by some of the core principles of this new challenger bank were presented:
- Bring back trust and excitement to banking
- Recognize the services they can improve and do better, simpler and easier
- Partnerships with other FinTech firms (e.g. TransferWise) who are already disrupting another vertical in banking (http://venturebeat.com/2016/02/25/the-bank-that-fintech-built-number26-and-transferwise-team-up-to-re-invent-banking/)
- Understand customers lifestyles and develop the services from there
- Being creative by pushing the boundaries of regulation and leveraging #technology to delight customers
- Or how they have managed to deploy more “branches” (where their customers can deposit cash) than the biggest bank in Germany (http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/21/number26-turns-retail-shops-into-bank-branches-for-its-bank-of-the-future/)
The minute Nicolas finished and left the stage, he was surrounded by a bunch of “groupies” (a.k.a. bankers) handing him business cards and requesting follow up meetings.
Are bankers really so desperate for answers? Has Number26 demonstrated that a new banking is possible? Is it so disruptive? And why hasn’t there been a Spanish startup able to do this? Is this a good thing? Does the Spanish market deserve a stronger Fintech presence?
There is no need to be an expert to see that banks are struggling to get the same level of loyalty and respect for their firms so many years since the crisis began (fines, penalties, miss-selling products, etc.). Now these small players are trying to recover the trust lost and win over thousands of customers that are desperate to get a fresh new brand to deal with. Someone who really understand their needs and day-to-day problems instead of selling the promotional product based on the marketing campaign.
Nothing the banks didn’t excel at, when branches were the only channel. People trusted their branch manager because they understood their financial needs. They knew everything about their customers life (wife’s name, number of kids, where they worked, etc…). Not anymore.
This radical shift to digital channels has made banks caught them off-balance. They are struggling to keep the pace their customers are demanding (product tailored to them -nor the other way around-, transparency, simplicity, device-agnostic,…).
Nicolas used a Steve Jobs’ quote to explain their idea of how to approach customers:
Now banks have to turn data into insights to ensure they cultivate a fair and non-intrusive way of serving their customers. Until that day comes; bankers will have to mimic the way these challenger banks are smashing the market (doubling the number of customers in 6 months and having a waiting list for new customers). Things incumbent banks can only dream off.
[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjimenezmaireles” connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”David Jimenez Maireles”] is the author of this post and originally published it on linkedin
-
user
Deloitte Demos Blockchain Use Case for Art Industry
Professional services firm #Deloitte has unveiled a new #blockchain proof-of-concept focused on artwork provenance.
fintech techcrunch -
user
Affirm is partnering with Expedia and Eventbrite so you can pay for experiences over time
#Affirm has made it no secret that its success will hinge on its ability to offer customers a wide range of retail partners where they can frequently use Affirm to pay. While the lending startup originally launched with niche partners like Casper mattresses and Boosted Boards, they have recently partnered with mainstream retailers like Home Depot and J. Crew with the hopes of tempting a… Read More -
user
Vermont is Close to Passing a Law That Would Make Blockchain Records Admissible in Court
An economic development bill in #Vermont includes language that makes #blockchain data a form of #admissible #court evidence.
fintech techcrunch -
user
Tendermint Exploring Possible Public Blockchain Launch
#Blockchain app specialist #Tendermint is in the early stages of launching a #public blockchain that could find it issuing tokens.
fintech techcrunch -
user
Confused By Blockchain? Separating Revolution from Evolution
What’s a #blockchain, what’s not and why does it matter? Former itBit director Antony Lewis attacks these questions in this opinion piece.
fintech techcrunch
Reply