Navigating cryptocurrency: Three areas of focus for financial institutions

This is part three of a three part series by Fiserv promoting their latest point of view paper, Three Cryptocurrency Actions for Financial Institutions.

1. Cryptocurrency education for you and your staff 

You’re not alone if you feel blindsided by talk about cryptocurrency. Many disregard cryptocurrencies as a fad, but they are here to stay. Tens of millions of Americans hold cryptocurrencies through a variety of wallets, and bitcoin’s market cap is sitting at nearly a trillion dollars. It’s not a question of if cryptocurrency goes mainstream; it’s a question of when and how quickly financial institutions will provide cryptocurrency services.

Do your research and share your knowledge with your staff. Have conversations about cryptocurrency and encourage others to learn more about it. Leverage industry contacts to hold educational sessions for your institution. The more you and everyone at your financial institution understands this emerging currency and technology, the better prepared you’ll be to move into this innovative territory. 

Fiserv continuously updates our website with cryptocurrency educational materials for you and your staff. Additionally, you can subscribe to Raddon® Research from Raddon, a Fiserv company, for insights on the cryptocurrency industry.

2. Gauge technology readiness

Digital channels and your digital experience are important considerations when adding a cryptocurrency option. Does your digital delivery strategy need to evolve? Do you need to improve operational efficiency to support your digital experiences? With a solid digital strategy and an updated branch technology, you’ll be better prepared to adapt to changing behaviors. 

Does that mean your institution will need to build out a complete cryptocurrency stack to serve your accountholders? Absolutely not. When gauging your technology readiness, consider which cryptocurrency capabilities interest your accountholders. If they’re interested in investing in cryptocurrency, it may make sense to develop partnerships with firms that offer those capabilities on top of your existing platforms. If your accountholders already hold cryptocurrency and are more interested in seeing how those holdings relate to their overall financial position, you may want to consider data integration capabilities that allow consumers to view their cryptocurrency holdings with their more traditional assets. 

3. Ascertain your accountholder readiness 

Understand your current market. Do you have consumers in the age groups in which cryptocurrency is popular? Is this a market and age group you’re looking to expand or grow? 

Surveys or campaigns to measure the level of cryptocurrency interest in your community or region will help you make decisions around strategy or product offers and help you determine future consumer appetites for cryptocurrencies. Results can help you determine what kind of changes you might need to implement to ensure consumers work with you in this growing space. Capitalize on the industry’s continued evolution and be prepared – at the starting block – if there’s a sudden surge in cryptocurrency demand from your consumers. 

Fiserv has explored the cryptocurrency landscape and we continue to monitor the overall market appetite for cryptocurrency. As your financial institution evaluates its accountholder readiness, Fiserv can be a valuable resource in helping you discover your customer base’s demand for cryptocurrency. Additionally, Fiserv can host sessions to help you and your consumers get more comfortable with new currencies. 

For more insights and action items for financial institutions navigating the cryptocurrency venture as it gains popularity, download Fiserv’s latest point of view paper.