Last week we announced that Skandiabanken will be supporting digital currencies by integrating to Coinbase Connect and exposing the account balance held at Coinbase. The real innovation really has little to do with bitcoin and digital currencies, but rather a representation of the way open banking will shape new products development and customer experience.
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Ever since the advent of bitcoin, the debate has alternated between bitcoin as a currency, blockchain as a protocol and bitcoin as an asset class. No matter how you choose to look at it, blockhain and digital currencies are gainging a lot of interest, and we wanted to explore this space by allowing our customers to view their Coinbase account balance directly in their online bank.
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The rise of fintech, changing consumer behavior and new technology are just some of the trends that puts innovation in the spotlight for banks these days. Even incumbents that were once considered the least susceptible to change are investing in innovation. But what makes a bank innovative?
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If anyone had told me fifteen years ago I would end up working in the banking sector, I would probably have thought of it as a highly unlikely outcome, but here I am. The other day, a former colleague and friend asked me what made me see the light and enter the banking sector, and it got me thinking. I guess my natural curiosity and passion for innovation and change to the positive has led me this where I am today, and I still feel like we are just scratching the surface of the future ahead.
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Around this time last year, blockchain was the hottest subject in finance and tech. It was close to impossible to attend an industry event or read a subject-specific news source without hearing about blockchain. As the attention to blockchain has cooled down some might ask whether it was all just a hype.
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As global poverty is continuing to decline, another issue emerges. According to the World Economic Forum, rising income inequality and the pose a risk to the global economy, and may lead to increased polarization and lack of political stability.
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Hver person, ting og entitet har sin egne unike identitet, og evnen til å bevise denne er nøkkelen til alt fra å logge inn på Facebook til å levere inn selvangivelsen. Vi omgir oss med ulike former for digitale identitetsløsninger som gir oss tilgang til innhold, foreta betalinger og kommunisere gjennom dagen. Samtidig henger mange av prosessene og reglene knyttet til opprettelse og verifisering av identitet igjen i den fysiske verden med signaturer, papirbasert ID og fysisk oppmøte.
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Artificial intelliegence will undoubtedly revolutionize wealth and asset management, and we wish to take an active part in this revolution. Last week Skandiabanken entered an agreement to purchase 39,9% of the shares in Quantfolio AS. The investment represents an important step in the banks ongoing work to further strengthen and facilitate user-friendly digital saving options for the private market.
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By now, almost everyone in the banking industry agrees that we are facing a perfect storm of changes that will forever alter the landscape for financial services. However, it still seems like a long way from talking about it to acknowledging the potential threats and challenges. And an even further way towards putting that knowledge into action.
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The landscape for financial services is changing, and the jury is still out as to how the endgame is going to play out. One of the concepts shaping this future is open banking. After looking into the subject, it is becoming clear that there is no one size fits all open banking strategy. Rather, there are several tactical moves that are being played aout by a variety of both banks and fintechs. No matter which strategic option(s) you choose to follow, open banking will fundamentally change banking the same way internet banking once did.
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The idea of a cashless society is one of the topics that stirs up a heated debated when it comes to digitalization of banking and society. On the one hand, physical cash is the common denominator for corruption, tax evasion, money laundering and other various illegal activities. While the anonymity of cash acts as an enabler for the illegal economy, many fear that the lack of said anonymity will inevitably lead to an Orwellian society where individual freedom is limited.
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Rumors of competition from the technology sector has been going on for a while in the financial industry, and last week the debate heated up when it was rumored that Amazon was considering acquiring Capital One. There may be some obstacles regarding this specific scenario, but it does not change the fact that Amazon already is well positioned to take a strong position in financial services regardless of regulatory barriers for structural growth.
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The traditional defense for human financial advisory boils down to a deep faith in the excellence of human reasoning and intelligence, coupled with more or less positive view on the emotional capacity and intuition of human beings. This is now challenged by the changing customer behavior and needs, the emergence of financial technology, and especially, an increasing number of robo-advisory services, perhaps redefining the concept of financial advisory altogether.
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One of the most fashionable business fads these days is for incumbents from traditional industries to claim that they are no longer an (insert your industry here), but a is now tech company. As an example, Domino’s is now claiming to be “a tech company that happens to make pizza.” This may sound noble, but do these incumbents have what it takes when it comes to delivering upon that promise?
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The landscape for financial services is changing, and while some trends stand out as inevitable, the endgame is still unclear. Fintech is not one single discipline, but a collective term descibing diferent ways of improving and/or disrupting traditional financial services through use of technology, hence the term FinTech. Payments is still the biggest and most mature field within fintech, what is the state of payment innovation, and how is this affecting incumbents?
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People have long dreamed of building machines that can think and act like humans.
Today’s advances in computer science and other fields look set to make this dream
a reality. But what is artificial intelligence, and what can it do for us?
Our digital data form the basis for new digital products and services, but the competitor is only a click away if consumer trust is not managed properly.
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I usually try to confine my blog to industry related subjects within finance, technology and innovation. But every once in a while I feel that am faced with such great levels of ignorance that I an unable to restrain myself. With all the information in the world only a few keystrokes away, one should imagine that the ability to distinguish rumors, gossip, propaganda and beliefs from facts and scientific proof should be a natural trait for everyone with a smartphone and an internet connection. Unfortunately that is far from the case.
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Early December, Facebook finally unveiled their newly acquired licenses for e-money and payment services out of Ireland. The rumors of Facebook entering the payment space in Europe has been going on for a while, ever since it was reported that Facebook applied for a money transfer license a while ago. Facebook is already in a unique position to disintermediate retail banks as the most powerful digital ecosystem out there for consumers. The key to Facebooks powerful position is the ability to evolve alongside changing user behavior, and so far, Facebook is excelling at this. According to a study conducted by pwc, 68 percent of bankers are concerned with losing control over their customer interface. A regulatory compliant Facebook should definitely make those concerns turn into worries.
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Omnichannel is the king of the buzzwords in retail banking. It’s the idea that “customers should receive a consistent seamless service across all channels”. In this utopia the branch, phone, web and mobile app all come together as one. But if you’re a fan of omnichannel, you might want to sit down, because I’ve got some bad news.
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