Claiming to be a visionary is a hefty responsibility. But we are living in unprecedented times where the explosive nature of our digital world is conditioning our minds to stretch. Its armed with this digital boldness and passion for how radically financial services needs to change, that I step into my vision for a FinTech future.
Google’s Eric Schmidt famously talked about ‘ubiquity 1st’ as a cornerstone of the company’s strategy. Once achieved, creativity and monetization naturally follows. The financial services leader of the future will get this. How it sustains scale is where the radical shift from the past will be.
Structural change will accelerate. To service customers and retain market share will mean front office needs will be serviced by self funded product development. Freedom to invest or acquire will be an imperative. Institutional M&A will need to make way for corporate venture DNA. Build internally will be replaced by 3rd party capability. Start-up businesses will be funded and grow up ‘inside’ the institution.
Innovation will not be quarantined to accelerators. Banks will shape their own ‘campus’ models in collaboration with academia and regulators. Open innovation will be driven by policymakers and Open API standards to accelerate global consistency in regulation. RegTech will evolve as distinct sector.
Talent pools will widen to non-finance sectors. Parity of digital innovators and industry specialists will exist at all executive levels. Reward will be biased to innovation 1st, ROE 2nd. The heros will be the super creative not the super traders.
Consumer banking will morph for the shared economy — products customers want are co-designed with them for them. Your carbon footprint will earn you interest.
Innovation channeled is a force for good. Agile institutions mean sustainable economies. FinTech is that enabler.