Walt #Disney #World is piloting a #cashless resort at its Animal Kingdom Lodge next month. According to a WDW report, starting Feb. 12, Jambo House at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort will be the first location to go cashless for both purchases and services. Forms of payments that will be acceptable at the resort includes […]
Bank Innovation
EXCLUSIVE—#SegWit2x, a controversial change to the #bitcoin #blockchain, will no longer happen, bitcoin holders and #cryptocurrency enthusiasts found out yesterday. Aside from the initial shock, bitcoiners seem to be #fine to wave goodbye to SegWit2x. Some even seem to be celebrating, at least according to Twitter: ?ALERT? Our wish has come true! #NO2X !!! The […]
Bank Innovation
#Payments are becoming real-time #around the #world, although the U.S. and Canada have lagged.
Financial Technology
The #developing #world has many innovative #mobile money apps but most operate on a closed loop, limiting their value. The #Gates #Foundation has launched a #platform to facilitate connections for mobile money users to #banks, other mobile platforms and retail. It is avaialbe free through BitHub.
Financial Technology
Since the first #eCommerce transaction in 1994, eCommerce has grown rapidly, impacting the way we shop today and leading to the formation of a whole new industry of eCommerce businesses and support services. Global eCommerce reached $ 1.9 trn in 2016, and is poised to grow at ~19% CAGR up to 2020¹.
Advances in #technology have led to the proliferation of alternative #payments methods, which are making financial interactions easy, quick and secure. Examples include Ideal, Sofort, PayPal, and Klarna. According to Worldpay, there are over 300 different types of payment methods used in eCommerce.
Source: Worldpay Global Payment Report 2016
Traditional merchant acquiring is physical—with POS and PEDs (pin entry devices) in shops—and it is also local. Traditional merchant acquirers have been slow to develop or acquire their own digital capability, or if they have a payment gateway, it is typically separate to their core POS services with little integration. However, to tap the full potential of global eCommerce and mCommerce, acquirers need to support a single, seamless, multi-channel, multi-payment type, multi-country payment service across the full payment value chain, to support all the payment needs of their merchants and their merchant’s customers.
There are few if any payment service providers who can do this on a truly global basis. As a result, payment companies are focussed on M&A and partnerships to acquire country and technology capability, and to invest in new technology and new business models.
Across the eCommerce value chain organisations include merchants, payment gateways, merchant acquirers, processors, payment networks and issuers of payment instruments. Each faces difficulties in creating a global payment strategy due to the diversity of requirements on the demand side and fragmentation of capabilities on the supply side.
For merchants, payments have become strategic. M&A and tactical initiatives in the past have often led to the use of different gateways and merchant acquirers by different parts of the business. This combined with ageing POS estates and new regulation such as PSD2 presents an opportunity for merchants to rationalize and consolidate their payment providers, and seek improved analytics and other payment capabilities.
For payment gateways, defining their target markets is critical in terms of geographies and merchant segments. Key strategic considerations include whether to go to market direct-to-merchant or through merchant acquirers; the alternative payment methods to support (typically, only a small number are used in a particular geography, despite over 300 globally); the provision of POS services, to enable merchants to operate seamlessly with online; and the network of merchant acquirers they support.
For merchant acquirers, building an integrated POS and eCommerce capability is paramount. Merchant acquiring is still mainly a domestic business, due to the physical nature of selling, implementing and maintaining a POS network, but as eCommerce grows, as merchants become cross-border businesses and consumers become international (e.g. tourists and expats from China), merchant acquirers need to determine their cross-border and eCommerce strategies carefully.
Processors, networks and issuer businesses are dominated by cards. However, the alternative payment methods to cards are emerging rapidly, with strong adoption in eCommerce, which itself is displacing POS retail sales. Processors, networks and issuers need to set strategies that capture alternative payment volumes and which reposition their cards business for digital commerce.
Setting a payment strategy for eCommerce is critical. The business of retail is undergoing a seismic shift to eCommerce, substituting in-store for digital purchases and generating complex consumer interactions that cross both channels, with significant implications and opportunities for the business models of all organizations in the value chain. As these implications play out, it will be exciting to see how eCommerce players navigate through these dynamic times.
The post The evolving world of eCommerce payments appeared first on Accenture Banking Blog.
For far too many of us, asking about our finances elicits an immediate stress response. Whether the inability to shake off university debt, the difficulty in building future savings, or the juggling of multiple conflicting demands, the state of our finances has an undeniable and intrinsic link to our quality of life and overall physical […]
Bank Innovation
Getting a line of #credit from a bank is so passe — try a wealth management #service with a #robo-advisor. Wealth management company Wealthfront has just released its new Portfolio Line of Credit, an offering that will allow clients to borrow funds based off of their investment accounts. The mobile-based service &8212; which marks the […]
Bank Innovation
#Robo-advisors, wealth management algorithms typically offered at low costs and with little human interaction, are gaining stream. Globally, wealth managers were responsible for US$ 74 trillion in assets under management (AUM) in 2014. BI Intelligence predicts that robo-advisors will manage around 10% of total global AUM by 2020. This equates to around US$ 8 trillion in robo-advisors AUM.
Robo-advisors are a class of #financial adviser that provides financial advice or portfolio management online with minimal human interaction. Much of the focus has been on portfolio management and most of these platform use algorithms such as Modern portfolio theory.
Today, popular platforms include US-based Wealthfront and Betterment, UK-based Nutmeg, Australian Stockspot, German Vaamo, among others. In Switzerland we have Truewealth, Glarner KB, Swissquote and some new platforms which are going live soon.
A research conducted by BI Intelligence found that consumers across all classes are receptive to robo-advisors, including the wealthy. 49% of this group would consider investing some of their assets using a robo-#advisor.
With robo-advisory on the rise, the wealth management industry is undergoing significant disruption.
According to Deloitte, robo-advisors hold some distinct advantages and are disrupting the industry in the following ways:
– The lower fees have broadened the market for advice to include the majority chunk of untapped wealth. More mass-market consumers can now afford advice.
&8211; Robo-advisory is more appealing to the new generation of wealth, which seeks more control, who is digitally savvy, and demands greater availability.
&8211; With large wealth management firms investing heavily in big data and advanced analytics, robo-advisory can become even more personalized and specific over time.
&8211; Many wealth management firms have already begun incorporating robo-advice capabilities within their existing advisory offerings to create hybrid models.
&8211; #Technology has lowered barriers to entry for new firms to break into wealth management. This has brought new levels of competition and innovation to the industry.
After the strong growth of the robo-advisory approach in recent years, promoted by numerous startups worldwide as well as a sizeable number of early adopting wealth managers, a new “sub-species” has emerged: the hybrid human-robo advisor.
According to MyPrivateBanking’s report &8220;Hybrid Robos: how combining human and automated wealth advice delivers superior results and gains market share,&8221; these platforms combine computerized recommendations with on-demand advice from a human being.
They use technology to standardize and cut costs on the information-gathering side of the job.
The report found that pure robo-advisors (completely automated without personal service added on) have seen their growth slowing down as the market matures. Notably, Betterment&8217;s growth rate for AUM has remained at the same place it was a year ago.
This is due to clients “starting to realize that what they’re getting from many providers is little more than a passive portfolio that they can easily build on their own without the robo middleman,” the report says.
MyPrivateBanking estimates that hybrid robo-advisors will grow to a size of US$ 3,700 billion assets worldwide by 2020. By 2025, the total market size will further increase to US$ 16,300 billion. This number constitutes just over 10% of the total investable wealth in 2025. By comparison, pure robo-advisors will have a market share of 1.6% of the total global wealth at that stage.
&8220;Hybrid robo solutions are a dynamic and also unstable new phase in the wealth management industry&8217;s transformation,&8221; the report says. &8220;We expect 2016 to be a year of significant developments.&8221;
So far, notable hybrid robo-advisors include Vanguard, Personal Capital, Rebalance IRA and AssetBuilder.
The post The Role Of The New Advisor In The Digital Financial World appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
#Starbucks is about to get even more #digital. The coffee giant announced a major executive shift yesterday: longtime CEO Howard Schultz has stepped down, and will turn his focus to “innovation, design and development of Starbucks Reserve Roasteries,” the company’s new upscale brand, as an executive chairman, the company saidRead More
Bank Innovation
#Half of #banking #customers across the globe are #using the products or services of at least one #FinTech firm1, according to the first #World FinTech #Report (WFTR) from Capgemini and LinkedIn, in collaboration with Efma.
The inaugural report quantifies and tracks customer response to the rise of FinTechs, includes the views of financial services industry executives at both FinTech #firms and traditional financial institutions2, and summarizes how innovation is key in the emerging industry landscape.
In particular, the WFTR found that FinTechs are gaining momentum and mindshare amongst younger, tech-savvy, and affluent customers. Emerging markets led the adoption where over 75% of customers in China and India report using services provided by FinTech firms, followed by the UAE and Hong Kong.
FinTechs have made the greatest inroads in investment management, where 17.4% of customers rely on them solely and another 27.4% use them in addition to their traditional providers. With so many FinTechs specializing in niche services, the WFTR also found that many FinTech customers (46.2%) are using services from more than three FinTech providers.
While FinTech providers continue to have a disruptive market presence, overall customer trust levels in these providers remain low. Only 23.6% of customers say they trust their FinTech provider compared to 36.6% for traditional firms. Customers noted traditional financial institutions still hold some advantage over FinTech providers when it comes to fraud protection, quality of service, and transparency.
“Rising customer expectations for more personalized and advanced digital experiences, advancements in #technology, greater access to venture capital, and lower barriers to entry have created fertile ground for growing FinTechs,” said Penry Price, Vice President, Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn. “FinTechs are largely gaining momentum by meeting needs traditional players have yet to address, but many FinTechs lack the transparency required to earn the trust of their consumer audiences to capitalize on these opportunities.”
Traditional financial institutions continue to face challenges, with less than half (44%) of executives confident in their FinTech strategy. This is not surprising given only about one-third (34.7%) affirmed they have a well-structured or proactive innovation strategy in place that is embedded culturally. The risk-averse nature of traditional firms also makes it difficult for them to create cultures that prioritize innovation, and 40.3% of executives said that theirs is not conducive to innovation.
“Financial services senior executives are seeing FinTechs in a whole new light as they see greater opportunities to collaborate, but are also making significant headways in building more agile, in-house FinTech capabilities.” said Thierry Delaporte, Head of Capgemini’s Global Financial Services Business Unit and Member of the Group Executive Board. “But with the exception of a handful of industry leaders, most firms are struggling to achieve positive results from their innovation initiatives with only 10 percent of executives stating they have been very effective at achieving desired innovation results.”
The WFTR found that traditional firms are increasingly pursuing a wide range of strategies in response to FinTechs. A majority of financial institutions (60%) now view FinTechs as potential partners, but nearly the same percentage (59.2%) are also actively developing their own in-house capabilities. Beyond partnership and in-house development, executives are exploring a full range of models, whether it be Investment in FinTech (38%), partnering with educational institutions (34.3%) or setting up accelerators (29.6%), while a much smaller percentage (18.6%) are acquiring FinTechs.
Traditional firms are in large, part responding to this shift by giving highest priority to investment in technologies which facilitate more streamlined and effective operations, thereby providing better day-to-day customer experiences.
Nearly 90% of executives report they are most focused on implementing big data and analytics, followed by the Internet of Things (IoT) (55.8%), #blockchain (54.7%), robotic process automation (52.3%), and open API technologies (50%). Blockchain technology, which forms the backbone of the popular virtual currency #bitcoin, is increasingly penetrating the financial services industry. It has numerous applications including enhanced transfers of digital assets, identity management, and better management of reward and loyalty solutions.
“Both FinTech and traditional firms still have work to do on delivering a better customer experience,” said Vincent Bastid, Secretary General, Efma. “The arrival of FinTechs has accelerated the improvement of overall customer experience in the industry but it is still not at the level that customers perceive that it should be. It is only a matter of time before BigTech3 companies and players in e-commerce and telecommunications join in to stake their claim to benefit from this industry disruption.”
To help traditional firms overcome their innate resistance to innovation and address current and potential future disruption, the WFTR has defined a four-step framework which will be essential in the face of a growing number of prospective threats to the financial services business.
According to the report, traditional FS firms can unlock innovation by: discovering new technologies, devising ideas and insights into business models, deploying aligned executives to support innovation, and sustaining innovation by improving efficiency and implementing best practices. As the “platformification”4 of the industry continues to gain momentum, it will be more and more imperative that financial institutions take aggressive action to innovate to ensure they are prepared.
The post World FinTech Report 2017: Half of Banking Customers Globally Now Using FinTech Firms appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
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