Fintech - trust and opportunity to grow

PSD2 and Open banking - trust and opportunity

Gaining consumer trust will continue to be a goal until open banking and PSD2 are ubiquitous. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are the main drivers of consumer choice - even more so when choosing financial products and bank accounts. The echoes of the 2008 financial crisis will have much less resonance with younger consumers, reflected in the demographic using innovative banking products such as Monzo.

More customers, more stability - what is the critical mass?

Ubiquity is a key factor here. The herd mentality has some basis as the more customers a financial institution has, the less likely it is to suffer failure. Finding the critical mass that sustains growth and - not paradoxically - stability should be the main focus of any early stage financial institution.

A proper understanding of long-term planning and financial projections is essential here and offers an opportunity for fintech consultants, or experienced banking personnel to provide advice and guidance to the many fintech companies involved on open banking, implementing services using PSD2 standards, or so-called neobanks.

Goldrush

At this gold rush stage of open banking there are many opportunities for startups to avail of funding from investors that are experimenting. Fintech funding is well established and many metrics are already in place to help investors judge the viability of new banks or payment providers. The innovation possible with open banking and PSD2 will attract new investment.

Investors, and even incumbent banks are already investing in accelerator programs and partnerships not only as investment but also to regain some relevancy.

Copycat "innovation"

As Anne Boden of Starling Bank pointed out in a recent interview, the incumbent banks will copy all innovative features, services, and approaches generated by neobanks and open banking. This could be pure opportunism. Also, trust could once again be a huge factor - new markets opened by fintech startups, and neobanks grows consumer trust, lowering the risk for incumbent banks and institutions.