Card-issuing platform #Marqeta #sees a lot of potential in working with challenger #banks across #Europe, and to fuel this #opportunity, the Oakland, Calif.-based company took in $ 45 #million in #funding, Jason Gardner, founder and CEO, told Bank Innovation. Investors in this funding round include VC firm ICONIQ Capital and Goldman Sachs. The new round, announced today, […]
Bank Innovation
The chaos related to data privacy concerns and the use of customer data has had a major, negative impact on the valuation of the so-called FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google) companies, reducing their market capitalization by a range of five to 15 percent in just a few weeks and raising questions about the sustainability of the business models of these companies going forward. Chinese Internet giants such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu have also been affected.
As the investing community sorts through the news and assesses the prospects for FAANG and other tech companies, European #banks have an #opportunity to reposition themselves as trustworthy, technologically sophisticated companies with opportunities for growth after a lengthy period of reorganization and, in some cases, downsizing.
In the bad news for FAANG, there are some potential positives for banks, including:
While looking at these positive elements, we also need to look closely at the #fintech ecosystem for signs of stress in the wake of FAANG developments. So far, however, fintechs’ ability to raise venture capital and attract early stage investors seems undiminished.
Similarly, the gap between the valuation of banks vs. digital players has hardly diminished over the past weeks, with FAANG price-to-book valuations still at 10 times those for banks. The differential reflects contrasting expectations of the group’s growth potential, with future value reflecting more than 50 percent of the enterprise value of FAANG throughout 2017, vs. only 16 percent of the enterprise value for leading banks, and about -7 percent for the non-leading banks.
Despite the efforts of some banks to be perceived (and valued) as technology players, they have not received tech-type market valuations. The current crisis of trust associated with some FAANGs presents banks with a unique opportunity to leverage the trust and security built into the DNA of many banks.
The post A (brief) moment of opportunity for banks appeared first on Accenture Banking Blog.
Real-time #payments open up some new business opportunities for #banks and their clients.
Financial Technology
#Open #banking—where #banks expose their data, functions and services to an ecosystem of customers, employees, third-party developers and vendors—has been hotly anticipated in Europe. We know almost US$ 1 billion was invested in PSD2-enabled services in 2016, up 200 percent from the year before¹.
Of course, some of this investment came from banks. But much of it originated from the group of voracious digital competitors circling banks’ traditional territory. That’s no surprise. The drive towards open banking gives them a direct line into a potentially lucrative market. And, crucially, it’s a market where they’re well placed to deliver the flexible, personalized experiences consumers demand.
Now, with PSD2 implementation across Europe just a few months away, new research from Accenture points to a major #opportunity for UK banks: We’ve found that more than two-thirds (69 percent) of UK consumers say they won’t share their personal financial data with third-party providers.
Based on this survey of over 2,000 consumers, it’s clear that online retailers, tech firms and social-media players face an uphill battle to convince consumers to allow them access to their financial data. Especially since over half of them say they’ll never change their banking habits and adopt open banking.
So why not? It all comes down to a lack of trust. Trust in online platforms and social-media companies as providers of payments services is low. We found most consumers would be unwilling to initiate a payment through an online platform (58 percent) or a social-media company (82 percent).
Fear of fraud is the primary factor. An overwhelming majority (85 percent) of consumers point to the risk of fraud as the biggest barrier to sharing bank account information with third-party providers. Data protection risks and increased potential for cyberattacks also feature highly.
By contrast, more than half of British consumers said they would trust only their own bank with their account information when seeking services like a better mortgage rate or savings account. This should be music to the ears of UK bank executives. Having won the trust of their customers over a period of many years, now is the time to build on that heritage to secure crucial early advantage in open banking.
The overriding priority? Be open to being open. That starts with the culture. Banks have to encourage a cultural shift from the outset. Everyone from the c-suite downwards needs to be involved in the conversation about open banking. They need to see clearly how it can help the bank achieve its core objectives: gains in revenue growth, cost reduction and talent management. The bottom line? Open banking has the potential to be a key initiative within every bank’s digital transformation program. As such it should be high on the agenda. Take a closer look.
But there’s a caveat: While we found banks can and should move fast to up their digital game and capitalize on the advantage they have in open banking, there’s a new generation of consumers coming through—and they feel very differently. Younger consumers (aged 37 or under) are more willing to trust non-traditional service providers.
One-third of Gen Z’ers say they’ll be likely to use open banking instead of usual payment methods. That’s in stark contrast to the only six percent of baby boomers who feel the same way. The same generational split is obvious in another area: Forty-two percent of millennials and 52 percent of Gen Z’ers say they’ll give online retailers permission to initiate payments directly from their bank accounts using apps/websites.
While this shows clearly where retailers need to focus their efforts in creating new payment experiences, in-store and online, banks themselves need to take notice if they’re to attract and retain business from younger consumers. That means no let-up in investments in social media, wearables and secure but frictionless customer authentication.
Let us know what you think. Thanks for reading.
The post The open banking opportunity appeared first on Accenture Banking Blog.
If you take a survey of people on the street to name a #franchise, not only will you probably get a 100% response, but you will also probably get the same response from the vast majority of individuals. That response being a certain fast food outlet that has golden archesRead More
Bank Innovation
As checks go out of style in the consumer #payments space, business-to-business and business-to-consumer payments still largely depend on the old checkbook. At least this is the case at #Chase, according to Douglas Petno, chief executive of commercial banking. We estimate that our clients spend over $ 0.5 trillion on businessRead More
Bank Innovation
Image source The transition to Chip and PIN #credit cards in America currently looks like just a big conversion cost – good for vendors and consultants and a big extra cost and time suck for everybody else. However, below the surface something bigger is brewing. Chip on plastic is incrementalRead More
Bank Innovation
A new report from #JPMorgan Chase and Oliver Wyman argues that #blockchain #technology is an #opportunity for #asset #managers.
CoinDesk
#Fintech ventures have long been praised for providing products that suit consumers’ changing behavior and expectations, but also for providing financial services to demographics that have been so far excluded.
Whether it is for rural populations in developing countries or SMEs struggling to get a business loan, #fintechs are smart in the way they target specific niches and markets, focusing on one product range, optimizing processes and leveraging #technology and digital platforms to cut costs, and thus, prices.
One demographic that has become more and more appealing to entrepreneurs is #women. This is mainly because women clients are finding that financial institutions are not meeting their specific needs. A Boston Consulting Group survey found that of all the industries that affect their daily lives, women feel most dissatisfied with the financial services industry, and this, on both product and service levels.
Image credit: Juan Nel via Shutterstock.com
Investing in particular is an area where women substantially differ from men. Studies have found that women are more conservative when it comes to investing and more insecure regarding their ability to invest. Other researches have suggested that women are actually better investors than men, preferring a more long-term approach, trading less frequently and sticking with their asset allocations.
As automated investment services – so called #robo-advisors &8211;, continue to expand into niche offerings, #online financial advice and portfolio #management is becoming more accessible to a broader variety of investors, including women.
Miss Kaya will be Southeast Asia&8217;s very first woman-focused robo-advisor. Founder Gina Heng, who simultaneously serves as CEO and co-founder at Marvelstone Group, has worked as a venture partner at Yozma Ventures, and co-founded asset management firm One Asia Investment Partners and Leonie Hill Capital in Singapore.
In a recent interview with the Singapore Business Review, Heng explained what pushed her to launch this particular venture.
“The types of online based #wealth management services in Asia today are still limited to financial education and product comparisons,” Heng said.
&8220;We want to bring a new wave of innovation by providing a robust, automated, algorithm-powered, wealth management platform. Miss Kaya, by being the first women-driven robo-advisory platform in Asia that caters to their very needs, serves to empower them to achieve longer-term financial goals and allow them to pursue their dreams.&8221;
Gina Heng, Miss Kaya
The company plans to pre-launch its website some time this month, starting with offering financial education materials and a beta version of its personal portfolio management services. Later, it will offer full financial advisory services for women to manage their own finances, Heng said.
Miss Kaya follows the likes of Ellevest, Worth Financial Management (WorthFM), SheCapital and Women Investor Now (WIN), which are all offering woman-centric financial services.
Sallie Krawcheck, Founder of Ellevest, at TechCrunch&8217;s Disrupt NY 2016, via https://techcrunch.com/
Ellevest, which launched in May, was founded by former Citigroup CFO Sallie Krawcheck and works much like more-established players such as Betterment and Wealthfront. Ellevest creates financial portfolios made of exchange-traded funds based on a user&8217;s timeline and risk tolerance. It also offers investment products such as Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs and investment accounts, and makes money by charging users a fee as a percentage of assets managed.
Ellevest takes into account female professionals&8217; unique needs such as the fact that women live longer than men and the fact that they tend to earn less than men.
Ellevest raised US$ 10 million in a funding round led by Morningstar in September 2015.
WorthFM, a digital investing platform by DailyWorth, was designed to engage and educate women as their investments grow. Launched in private beta in March, the platform builds one&8217;s portfolio by taking into account the client&8217;s personality, strengths, fears and sabotage patterns.
SheCapital, which launched in 2015, targets female investors and aims at closing the gender gap in financial advice. The platform was designed to act as a one-stop shop for women who are looking to invest.
Similarly, WIN aims at acting as an all-in-one platform integrating financial planning, investing, real-time money management tools, Robo and custom investment portfolio management, and curated content.
For Switzerland we haven&8217;t yet spoted a similiar Fintech Startup.
Featured image by Andresr via Shutterstock.com.
The post Women Take Center Stage As Fintechs Eye Untapped Opportunity in Online Wealth Management appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Russia’s National Settlement Depository discusses why it #believes the biggest #blockchain opportunities have yet to be uncovered.
fintech techcrunch
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