Zoom on Banking

The future is not for the ones who imagine it, but for the ones who create it

Banking of the future, banks of the future, bankers of the future, means of payment of the future... The future is closer and closer, and in the last couple of years, the banking sector is witnessing the starts of a great re-volution. A global revolution that’s being possible thanks to technology. Banks that are more like start-ups, smarter money, smartpho-nes that guide you through the supermarket... In this NOW Zoom we will cover three key aspects that show how banks and means of payment are embracing innovation. Immerse yourself in this issue of NOW Zoom on Ban-king, or contact us if you want to attend to a trends session on the future of banking.

THE START

1. Challengers

2. Banks Refreshed

3. Mobile Money

“Byebye Banks, you’ve had your fun” Transferwise.

“Byebye Banks, you’ve had your fun” is the rallying cry that a currency exchange startup uses to present itself in society. And they are not alone. Everyday more and more com-petitors emerge in this sector. New business models, or companies coming from other fields bring new products or services that tra-ditional banks are not offering. They are agi-le, fresh, and come loaded with lots of new ideas. Examples like Simple, which appeared to redefine the way people interact with their banks offering a social and more connected experience are mushrooming nowadays. They bring in new ways of doing that cha-llenge traditional models. They might be the newcomers, but it looks like they are here to stay...

1. Challengers

INSIGHT: Safaricom has surpas-sed the bounds of its category, becoming a brand that’s really relevant to people. Offering use-ful mobile powered services in di-fferent areas, they are improving Kenyan’s quality of life. Instead of a simple telecommunications provider, they have become a motor for growth and utility that puts in people’s hands the tools to have a simpler and better life.

SafaricomThis mobile company owned by Vodafone in Kenya is redefi-ning the way Kenyans interact with money thanks to their service “MPesa”. In a country where the vast majority of the population is unbanked, Mpesa enables its users to send and receive money, save, and even apply for loans using just their feature mobile phones and SMS.

INSIGHT: In a context where banks are one of the less apprec-ciated companies, there is an opportunity for new models that ,leveraging the power of commu-nity, offer banking services wi-thout the need of a bank partici-pating in the proccess.

TransferwiseFounded by some of the creators of Skype and Paypal, this com-pany uses P2P systems to transfer money and exchange curren-cies, saving on the charges that banks apply for this services. Transferwise builds on the premise that for every person who wants to change currencies, there is someone who wants to make the same exchange in the opposite direction. Putting this people in contact, they get the banks out of the equation, therefore sa-ving money by charging their users much less for the service.

Traditional banks redefine themselves

Without a doubt, in the last years banks have lost touch with their customers. Times of cri-sis, scandals, and cultural shifts have made some people blame the banking sector for the current economic downtime. This joins the pressure applied by new companies and busi-ness models born as an alternative to banks, and it’s making some traditional banks try to reinvent themselves focusing on innovation. They try to make people’s life a little easier in order to reconnect with them. Conventional models are redefined to adopt new ways of consuming and fresh ideas about what does value mean. Technology is becoming a key factor for some of the banks that remained statinc during the last years, allowing them to evolve by embracing change in order to offer new services and recover consumer’s trust.

2. Banks Refreshed

INSIGHT: iGaranti focuses on utility and simplicity, on the new relations between people and their money, and in what they want to do with it. In a market as dynamic and regulated as the Turkish banking sector, iGaranti is offering services beyond its cate-gory, setting itself ahead from the competition and showcasing as a useful and innovative bank.

iGarantiBack in 2013, Garanti, one of the biggest banks in Turkey, laun-ched their digital service iGaranti partnering with Fjord. iGaranti lets users manage their financial accounts and perform any ac-tions as if they were in an office, but it also offers new mobile-only oriented services, like a virtual assistant, or tips and services to help you save. The mobile app has won several design and in-novation awards, and it’s available for both Garanti customers and not customers. iGaranti leverages service design as a way to solve problems, getting advantage of digital and technological opportunities to offer adaptive services that change according to the user’s context.

INSIGHT: Barclaycard’s inten-tion to give users an active role in managing and designing the service is a key point. Leveraging the trends of crowdfunding and communities that unite in order to reach their goals, Barclaycard shows their concern to understand what do their customers want in order to offer them a service that lives up to expectations, designed just for and by them.

Barclaycard RingWith Ring, Barclaycard presents a new path for banks, using the power of communities to build a better card. Ring works like an online community where every member can decide on which are the features and perks of the card, what’s the interest rate it offers, etc. As a reward for their commitment, Barclaycard shares a certain amount of the benefits Ring generates with the members of the community.

Now, your bank fits in your pocket

Everyday, our lives revolve more and more around mobile devices. this devices are chan-ging the way we interact with each other and even the way we understand the world. Mo-ney is no exception. Today, anybody can be sending money while crossing the streets, or doing the weekly household shopping while sitting in the bus. Smartphones in Spain reach 66% of the population, and allows compa-nies to be connected with users at all times. This also redefines people’s expectations and needs regarding their finances. We should take advantage of this connection and the new possibilities it opens, understanding the new ways people relate with their money and new payment options.

3. Mobile Money

INSIGHT: The downside of this technology is the privacy issue. To what extent is it invasive to send unwanted notifications to people walking by? The key for the suc-ces of this technology will be it’s ability to prove itself useful enou-gh to be activated by the users.

Estimote BeaconsBeacons are small devices that connect with nearby smartphones using low energy bluetooth systems, and they might bring the next revolution of retail. They are capable of sending offers and messages via push to smartphones, and even enabling them to send payments directly using a secure connection. They possibi-lities they offer to incorporate mobile shopping, or persinalised offer services are as many as we can imagine.

INSIGHT: If banks don’t want to lose their ground regarding ser-vices that were exclusive to them before, they will have to provide added value solutions with dis-ruptive utility for their users. For example BBVA in Spain is develo-ping Commerce360, an applica-tions suite for retailers that levera-ges BBVA’s POS big data to help them understand and act upon their customers, their context, and their business.

SquareThanks to Square, anyone with acces to a smartphone or tablet can send and receive payments in their bank account. Square plugs into the headphones input and transforms the device into a mobile POS terminal. This offers an interesting alternative to conventional payment gateways, with lower charges and wire-less mobility. It’s design, simple interface, and ease of use make Simple a real alternative to consider, open to everyone and com-patible with almost every bank and financial account provider.

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