Why every financial firm wants to answer the same question: What should you do next?
- Every financial firm is pursuing the same endgame: becoming the trusted voice that answers one simple but powerful question -- what should you do next?
- Execution is becoming a commodity. The next battleground is earning the right to shape the customer's next decision.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…
The ‘Letter from the Editor’ series features exclusive insight and opinion-driven analysis from Tearsheet editor Sara Khairi. The focus is on linking ideas, questioning assumptions, and tracking shifts across both mature and emerging trends in financial services.
This is now PRO-only content. Subscribe to PRO so you never miss a Letter from the Editor exclusive.
Issue # 9
Every financial firm, regardless of whether it’s a bank, fintech, wealth platform, payments provider, or accounting software company, increasingly seems to be pursuing the same ambition: earning the right to answer one question before anyone else does. What should you (the customer) do next?
That’s because information just tells you where you are, not necessarily where you should go. That’s the shift I think we’re seeing now.
Financial institutions compete by helping customers execute financial decisions. Banks originate loans after customers decide to borrow, payment providers move money after customers decide to pay, and wealth platforms execute trades after investors decide to invest.
Success meant making those actions faster, cheaper, and more convenient.
Digital banking accelerated that shift by making financial products increasingly available whenever and wherever customers needed them.
As access improved, however, something else became clearer. Making financial products more available and easier to use didn’t necessarily make financial decisions any easier.
Customers still faced the same questions.
…