Fidor Bank is the brainchild of a group of entrepreneurs who recognised that because Web 2.0 and social media were changing people’s social lives, they would inevitably change retail banking too. It uses technology to overcome the cost and complexity of traditional banking, while increasing customer trust through an online community.
http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Technology-you-can-bank-on
According to Infosys, Banks consider Google, Apple and Facebook their biggest competitive threat as technology firms offer consumers financial services. Moreover the perceived threat from technology companies had “increased noticeably”, compared with last year.
To respond to increasing demands from consumers and to combat the threat from financial industry entrants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and others, more financial institutions than ever are increasing their investment in innovation. Efma and Infosys, show that 84 percent of banks globally are increasing their innovation investment in 2014 compared to 2013.
http://thefinancialbrand.com/44662/banks-increase-innovation-investment-research/
A new survey from TD Bank examines consumer attitudes towards financial services. Life events can lead to switching banks but the main cause are the unknown fees. Transparency seems to be the key.
Nationwide partnered with IBM to develop a system to allow Android Wear users to perform banking tasks on their wearables. The smartwatch will connect to the mobile banking app to provide users with real-time updates of their balance.
http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240234153/Nationwide-launches-smartwatch-banking-capabilities
While much has been written on how technology firms are disintermediating the financial services value chain, could the speed of innovation and banking’s bottom line be improved by acquiring these same technology companies? If banks are growing in need of technology development/services, why not having this services in the house?
http://thefinancialbrand.com/44750/banking-technology-merger-acquisition-study/
ApplePay helped open the door for NFC mobile payments, but other players will have a say in how the market develops.
Apple still makes up less than half of the smartphone market so it has also created room for other players to get in on the fun… like the Android market.
We’re at a turning point between “old IT” and “new IT”, where the enemy, however, isn’t costs. It’s the value IT delivers. But we can apply concepts like “Buy, Hold and Sell” and manage our targets and budget.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) is set to launch the voice biometrics technology with the aim to facilitate banking transactions through phone or mobile devices.
Banks in emerging middle income and relatively high growth countries such as Brazil, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa and Turkey are more likely on average to have an innovation strategy, to be aiming to become innovation leaders, and to be investing in R&D.
