Digital Banking | 2022 #1
Weekly news up to Monday, January 3rd, 2022
MVO BLOG
REPORT
Time may be running out for traditional banks hoping to stay relevant in the next few decades. 60% of banks say they haven’t yet made any significant progress with their digital transformation strategies. That’s not a good place to be when more non-financial companies are setting up shop in the financial ecosystem.
👉 Find this full and interesting article here.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Tencent Holdings has taken a small stake in Britain's Monzo Bank as part of a fundraising, just weeks after it fetched a valuation of $4.5 billion.
Monzo did not disclose details of Tencent's stake, reported that the Chinese firm was investing a minority of a $100 million capital injection, citing a source close to the process.
👉 Read the full source article here.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
Highlights of Greenlight's 2021 year in review.
Total invested 10.5 million
Total saved 91.9 million
Averaging $29.65 per trade, Greenlight kids and teens learned to build long-term wealth with the guidance of their parents. It’s no surprise that Apple and Tesla made the list of top investments. And they are diversifying with ETFs like the Vanguard 500 Index Fund.
👉 Check the full article here.
📰 ARTICLE
Almost half of the UK’s bank branches have been lost, or scheduled for closure, since 2015, putting vulnerable customers at risk of being “cut adrift”, according to figures put together by a consumer group.
Analysis carried out by Which? for the news agency PA found that 4,735 branches have been shut or earmarked for closure over the past six years. The figure is equal to 48% of the network as it stood in January 2015.
Many of the big banks have been cutting their branch networks in recent years, claiming customers are spurning traditional counter service in favour of banking online and via mobile phones.
👉 Read the full The Guardian article here.
👨💻 BLOG
Banks that want to improve their AI capabilities should take a multiyear perspective, focusing on excelling at a few use cases, spreading those lessons throughout the organization, and then accelerating to take on new ones.
While not every bank needs to be a frontrunner (one of five archetypes shown), frontrunners do share some instructive patterns. They’ve built out AI maturity and adoption throughout the organization. They focus on generating value for customers by, for instance, anticipating personalized offerings.
👉 Read more here.
💬 INTERVIEW
Insider Intelligence spoke with Carolyn Feinstein, Varo Bank’s chief marketing, growth, and design officer, to better understand how CMOs are redefining their roles as digital becomes the default banking channel for customers. She emphasized how fast it’s been changing, particularly during the pandemic.
What's interesting about tech marketing—and I'll put fintech in that bucket—is that, unlike many other businesses, these companies go through their life stages in 18-month, super-fast flywheels. The organizational construct and people that are ideal at one life stage might not be ideal at the next. It's why you see people moving so rapidly through these companies compared with other industries.
👉 Read the full interview here.
💡INSIGHTS
Most traditional banks still depend heavily on outdated platforms and legacy infrastructure. Without significant digital banking transformation (and massive reduction of underlying costs), legacy infrastructures can’t support the new wave of digital products and services that many segments of consumers want or the agility and innovation people increasingly expect.
While many consumers may retain a traditional banking relationship, loyalty to a bank that is slow to respond to market needs and still have costs associated for basic services becomes fragile.
👉Read the full Financial Brand article by Jim Mouris here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ High street bank Santander has accidentally paid out £130m to thousands of accounts, both individual and business, in error on Christmas day. Link here.
⭐️ 2021—the year the Digital Banking space said, “hold my beer, and watch this”… Only to quite literally make giant leaps towards the top that successfully made heads turn thanks to its various ingenious breakthroughs. Link here.
⭐️ Digital consumer finance is at the inflection point as investing, borrowing, and online-only payment methods will become dominant digital behaviors. Link here.
⭐️ Experts say new apps can help teens and young adults become more financially literate, and improve chances for a secure financial future. Link here.
⭐️ Digital-first banks encountered multi-pronged progress in 2021 across product expansion, skyrocketing funding rounds, and M&As. Link here.
UK 🇬🇧
Britons now have the option of using buy now, pay later when shopping on Amazon's website, following a partnership between the retail giant and Barclays Bank. Link here.
Anne Boden’s Treasury Select Committee comments, that open banking has failed to encourage bank account switching, were criticised today in a letter signed by 53 fintech founders. Link here.
The owners of Shawbrook, one of Britain's biggest challenger banks, are exploring plans to list it on the London Stock Exchange less than five years after taking it private. Link here.
After 16 years of handling P2P investments at Zopa, the team has taken the decision to close down their retail investing business (something similar to what others like Lending Works have done recently as well). Link here.
Habito has posted details about its new mortgage offering on its website, saying surging house prices have “left too many people priced out of buying the home they want”. Link here.
Starling Bank Ltd is on the hunt for a lending business to buy before its stock market debut, the Daily Mail reported, citing the bank’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Anne Boden. Boden told the paper the bank is aiming to acquire at least one lending platform in the first half of 2022. Link here.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Tinkoff Investments has become the first Russian broker to offer an online service for gifting stock. Link here.
On 21 December 2021, a special administration order was made by the Court, in relation to ViolaMoney (Europe) Limited, under the 2021 Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations. Link here.
USA 🇺🇸
FinTech challenger bank Chime can continue using terms like “no overdraft fees” and “no hidden fees” after the National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs determined that the advertising for its “SpotMe” program disclosed the necessary information. Link here.
LATAM
For the third year in a row, Nubank was elected the best financial institution in Brazil and is among the best in the world. The recognition is from the North American magazine Forbes, from the annual ranking World's Best Banks 2021, released since 2019. Link here.
ASIA
Fino Payments Bank received approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for starting international remittance business under the money transfer service scheme (MTSS). The Bank will be undertaking inward cross-border money transfer activities and will be partnering with an overseas principal. It has also received the approval to partner with one of the largest global remittance service providers as its overseas principal. Link here.
Jupiter has raised $86.6 million in a Series C round of funding led by New York-headquartered hedge fund Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital and Virgina-headquartered QED Investors, according to filings made with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). Link here.
MIDDLE EAST
Israel’s newest bank, thus far known as the First Digital Bank (FDB), has picked a new name — ONE ZERO - Digital Bank. Link here.
Shaheen H. Al-Ghanem, CEO of Warba Bank, a leading Kuwaiti Islamic Bank, rang the market-opening bell to celebrate the listing of the Bank’s US$ 250 million perpetual Tier-1 Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, in the presence of Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Link here.
AFRICA
David Pfaff, chief financial officer at Tyme Bank, has provided an overview of some of the key banking trends likely to emerge in South Africa in 2022. Commenting in Payfast’s latest eCommerce performance index, Pfaff said that one of the most significant shifts would be fewer physical bank branches in South Africa. Link here.
Titan Trust Bank Limited to buy 89.39 per cent in Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, both banks announced on Thursday. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.