Satish Menon, Founder of Insightz, talks about how banks should respond to the threat posed by digital disruptors and their use of big data in an recent interview.
Fintechs are both a threat and an opportunity for banks. The vast majority of disruptive innovators like SocietyOne and Zopa – be they in the peer-to-peer lending space or innovating otherwise – are not aspiring to be a bank at all. They look to fill gaps in the current offerings by banks, which is usually speed, pricing and overall experience. They aim for customer satisfaction rather than just customer tolerance. While this perhaps is currently not enough to bring down a big bank, many of them are attacking at different parts of the banks’ fields of business. It is certainly hurting them and affecting areas of growth that the banks want to control. In the future, the regulatory environment for startup firms may get tighter but banks striving to stop the march of innovation will not be the answer. On the other hand, banks need to counter-innovate, partner with fintechs when relevant and leverage their own strengths creatively, particularly in their offerings to customers if they want to succeed.
The irony of the world of big banks is that while discussion often centres on what the “Apple of Banking” might look like, we never stop to consider what the “Citibank or UBS of the Internet” might be. None of the banks today brace themselves for that possibility. The reason here is that all banks have a defensive response that at best protects their turf and does not adapt to the market to the extent of these modern disruptors. For big data to be relevant and contextually significant to a financial customer, it needs external data points such as behaviour, location, habits, and influences – which are currently best assessed by these internet disruptors. In addition, big data needs to draw on individual transactional and historical financial data that the banks have. Future value is best created when the two work in tandem. This could mean innovation originating from disruptors like Google or from the banks themselves. If banks believed more in themselves in terms of pure innovation, they could have a more relevant role to play in the brave new world of digital disruption.
Read the full interview here…
Satish Menon
A global thought leader on Digital Innovation and an Inspiring speaker, Satish Menon is the Founder of Insightz – a hub for Investment, Innovation and Inspiration.
Formerly the Global Head of Digital Strategy and Executive Vice President of Growth Ventures and Innovation in leading banks such as Citibank and ANZ Bank, he advises Industry leaders on Business Transformation and also serves on the Advisory Board of Start Up companies. He additionally runs a social initiative called “Beckoning Hearts” focused on Self -Transformation.
As the world around us excites, infuriates, charms and confuses – all at the same time, Satish enjoys both – big thinking and the spontaneity of the little & meaningful. In the modern milieu of constant change, he believes that only an understanding of the matrix of things – connecting internal motivations to external actions – can help drive the positive change and its incidental success that we seek .
Big Data or Small Insights? Customer Innovation or Quarterly P&L growth? Experienced hands or New kids on the Block? Career focus or Fulfilling Lives? Satish helps demystify the compulsions and contradictions of the Digital Age and makes the path ahead self evident at all levels.
Known to be deeply insightful, his talks are always laced with humor and interactivity. He is passionate about transformation and on readying both organizations and individuals to their highest potential in the New Age.
Contact us today to engage Satish for your next event.