The new competition in financial services
Instead of focusing on fintech competition, incumbents should have their
eyes on technology firms. So says top fintech investor, Caribou Honig of QED Investors.
Google, Apple, and Amazon are all making moves, which attendees at this week's upcoming Money 20/20 conference will be able to witness in person. Here's a
Money 20/20 preview of what to look for at the event.
Of course, nothing goes up in a straight line. We didn't need
Moody's to tell us that the massive growth the online lending industry experienced early on was based on a shaky foundation.
Waning interest in investing makes for good financial theater
Et tú, Barron's? The financial publication
launched Next, a new publication, targeting millennials.
It's going to be tough. It isn't just that old media can't talk to today's investors. People just aren't that interested in investing. Cue the
dying business of picking stocks and how the internet
killed actively-managed mutual funds.
Regulating more transparency, like the SEC is trying to do with
new ETF and mutual fund disclosures, may help (but unlikely when people don't trust the entire system).
Top UX design comes to financial services
To compete, many financial services firms have hired top design talent from the media and ecommerce industries. Chase certainly has and here are
4 key design components the firm is infusing into all its products.
As this change comes to finance, it gets people in the industry thinking about their futures. They definitely think the future is digital and a recent survey shows they're
worried about their job prospects.
Be careful what you wish for
The majority of people polled in the US believe that they'll witness the
extinction of banks in their lifetimes. Apps and fintech are great but making banks go bye-bye is going to be hard, since people actually
generally prefer using branches.
Maybe fintech revolutionaries are behind the surge in
explosive attacks on European ATMs?
It's hard to be a bank (IT manager)
The challenges of banking digital transformation are many, but most onerous is the cultural rigidity impeding change. Here's a
view from the front lines of digital projects (at CSFB, at least).
It's not a problem that money can solve (though it helps). I wonder how
this $1 billion UBS is using to "standardize IT" across its wealth management division is going to be allocated. BTW, who calls it "IT" anymore?
