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There has been no shortage of challenger banks competing for the customer’s attention in the past decade. However, it is far between the ones that manage to turn a profit. As capital becomes more scarce, and valuations are declining, challenger banks with no clear business models other than nifty features and a niche target audience, are facing a bumpy road ahead.

According to unconfirmed sources, Apple has allegedly acquired credit-scoring startup Credit Kudos. The deal marks yet another addition to Apple’s venture into the expanded payments space. What are the potential implications for incumbent banks and the payment industry as a whole?

Challenging the status quo is one of the hardest part of leading change. In a time when as good as all industries are facing radical changes over the next decade, innovation is necessary for survival. However, all too often, organizations and leaders are stuck in a “wait and see” mode. Rather than taking a leap of faith into the unknown, incumbents all too often find themselves on the steady decline into obsolescence by doing nothing.

Does Meta’s nightmarish stock performance in the past 24 hours mark the beginning of the end for facebook’s unrivaled dominance over social media, or it is merely a bump in the road towards a new future for the company?

Facebook’s digital currency Diem, formerly known as Libra, has faced a lot of controversy since it was announced a couple of years ago. Now it seems like it will never materialize beyond the headlines. Facebook/meta may have unprecedented distribution power, but that was not sufficient to realize this larger than life crypto project.

Ever since I wrote my master’s thesis on innovation capabilities in established companies, I have constantly been on a mission to understand how to lead real change and push the innovation agenda from an incumbent standpoint. Looking back at the combination of my theoretical background combined with several years of practical experience, I will try to summarize some of my experiences in a short and hopefully sweet playbook for corporate innovation.

Although DeFi is not the newest kid on the block in the world of crypto and blockchain applications, the segment has reached an inflection point where it has quickly become the hottest topic around. Even though true believers insist that DeFi represents the future of finance, there are several concerns to be raised in its current shape and form.

I am proud to announce that starting January 1st next year, I will be taking on the role of Chief Digital Officer at Skanska Norway and Director in charge of Skanska Digital.

In a world of digital ecosystems, data is the raw material that fuels the digital economy. In order to be a part of this value creation, there is a need to have a clear data strategy. How does one go from the traditional approach to collection, storage, and reporting to strategic use of data?

Of all the trends and technologies predicted to change the landscape of financial services, open banking has proven to be the most transformational. Even as the dust has settled after the implementation of PSD2, leading banks show no sign of slowing down their efforts towards an open banking future. With another regulatory push toward open finance looming on the horizon, how should financial institutions prepare to stay ahead of the curve?

Why do once-great companies continue to fail to keep up with the times? One possible explanation is that they attempt to solve the problems of tomorrow with the tools of yesterday without being aware of what was integral for success in the past might as well be the cause of failure in the future.

Defining a strategy is easy. Transforming those slides and spreadsheets into action is the tricky part. Instead of presenting an endless barrage of charts, boxes, and figures, leaders should embrace storytelling as a tool to inspire and engage the organization. With that in mind, who is the villain of your corporate narrative?

One of the recurring topics for increased competition in the banking sector is account number portability. Just like number portability evened the playing field between consumers and service providers in the telco industry, is it possible to achieve the same effect in the banking industry?

Open banking is one of the key concepts to understand when looking at how fintech has transformed the banking sector. Until now, a lot of the attention has been centered around retail banking, but in the next phase of fintech and open banking, SMEs are set to take the center stage.

Teknisk gjeld – gamle IT-systemer som må oppdateres og forbedres for å ikke falle sammen – har lenge vært et sentralt tema for enhver IT-avdeling og ethvert utviklermiljø. Du er ikke digital bare fordi du har lansert en app, og dersom du beveger deg for raskt i kundegrensesnittet uten å samtidig adressere underliggende teknologi vil du til slutt møte veggen. Hva er egentlig problemet, hvorfor ender så mange opp der, og hva skal til for å løse det?

It has been a decade since I first embarked on my journey down the payments rabbit hole. Since then, the predicted disruption of payments as we know it has proven to be more of an evolution than a revolution. With that in mind, even though there have been massive shifts in the payments space, the most exciting times are yet to come. Here are seven trends that will shape the next phase of payments evolution.

When it comes to succeeding in the digital space, it is rarely about having the latest and greatest of tech, nor is it to have have a “if it is not broke, don’t fix it” mentality. Just like rocking a suit, having the right fit is essential, but how do you go about determining what is fit for purpose for your organization?

As consumer habits have adapted to an increasingly digital world, credit products are evolving alongside the digitization of payments. With the rise of POS-financing and so-called buy now pay later products, banks and credit institutions are being challenged by fintechs in one of the most profitable verticals in the retail banking industry.

For bankene representerer en digitalisering av bankboksen en gylden mulighet for å skape nye digitale inntektsstrømmer ved å gjøre bankboksen relevant for en digital tidsalder. Det viktigste konkurransefortrinnet for en tilbyder av en slik tjeneste er tillit, og norske banker er velsignet med svært høy grad av forbrukertillit. I motsetning til tradisjonelle banktjenester som i stor grad er nasjonale av natur strekker både behovet og vekstpotensialet for en digital bankboks seg langt utenfor nasjonale grenser. Muligheten er der, og dersom bankene selv ikke ønsker å gripe den, så er det neppe mangel på lovende fintech-startups som ønsker å ta denne posisjonen.

Digitale lommebøker er i vinden som aldri før. Kontantbruken har stupt i nær sagt alle markeder, og veksten i netthandel har nådd nye høyder. I markeder med utbredt kontantbruk har adopsjonen av digitale lommebøker akselerert og hatt en markant økning i adopsjonsrater. Ifølge analysebyrået ACI passerte den totale omsetningen via digitale lommebøker 100 milliarder dollar i 2020, og spås å mangedobles de neste årene til 2,6 billioner dollar innen 2025. Hvilken betydning har dette paradigmeskiftet for bank- og finansnæringen?