The struggle between the financial institutions that have established ways to conducting their services and the new models being rolled out to consumers by fintechs has created tension in the marketplace. The article outlines three of the ways large FIs have approached partnering with fintechs to more rapidly adapt to the customer centrism in the age of the informed consumer. The corollary is that fintechs benefit from the trust and reputation built over time by FIs.
By partnering, more traditional institutions and fintechs are able to bring unique value to the table and ultimately offer customers an innovative, full-service banking, investing or payment experience.
Mercator Advisory Group expects the larger FIs will remain on the frontlines of API availability and direct engagement with fintechs, while the Regional and Community banks will be fast followers, quickly assimilating those innovations that demonstrate customer value. The segmentation of the market in this way is nothing new, but we anticipate it will be more pronounced. The expansion of ways to engage with customers dilutes the budgets dedicated to that purpose. The advantage to the fluid API engagement with fintech will be a nimble “test and record” approach to gauge customer engagement results to new FI/consumer interactions.
Overview by Joseph Walent, Associate Director, Customer Interactions Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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