Gael Itier – CEO & Founder at Akt
What will the world look like once the pandemic is over? At present, no one can be sure given the rapid pace of change experienced over the past year. However, there are signs to suggest that our social and economic structures are shifting, and what is certain is that the world will undoubtedly appear very differently than it did pre-COVID.
For example – the five-day working week – a staple of modern society – now appears to be under threat due to advancements in workplace technology and an enforced successful period of working from home.
Instances of such change are happening across the entire breadth of society, and the world of financial services hasn’t escaped this. Over the past few years, Europe’s fintech sector has boomed as entrepreneurs have worked to provide an alternative to the traditional banking system. Generally smaller and more agile than the incumbents, fintech companies have been able to create services that mesh better with a hectic modern lifestyle. However, given the changes that are likely to result from COVID-19, will we soon see consumers switch at an even greater rate?
The changes brought forth by COVID-19
The financial sector was already undergoing significant change before the pandemic. Regulatory evolution and advancements in technology had already brought forward measures such as open banking, and as previously mentioned, changing customer demand had led to increased competition and a number of new entrants to the marketplace.
COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst, rapidly intensifying the pace of some of these changes. For example, from the perspective of financial institutions, many found themselves having to promptly shift to a model of working from home after having been previously pessimistic to its benefits. This effected the delivery of both front and back end services, as organisations needed to invest time and resources into adapting to the new normal.
The move toward home-work also changed the outlook of the consumer. Now spending less time in busy town centres, the average consumer will spend more time managing their finances using digital and mobile channels, rather than traditional in person services. Furthermore, with the global employment market on especially unsteady ground, many consumers are looking for flexibility in the services that they use to able to adapt to any unforeseen change.
Why the fintech sector has been perfectly placed to take advantage
Whereas traditional banks needed to drastically adapt their ways of work to not being in the office, for many new fintech companies this was already the standard. As such, some customers of traditional banks will have found themselves receiving comparatively worse service than they did pre-pandemic. Many customers will have managed their finances in traditional brick and mortar locations. As such, with consumers having to rapidly shift to using websites, mobile apps, or over the phone – a number of the incumbents may not have had the necessary capacity in these services to deal with the increased demand, and this will have resulted in bottlenecks. Newer fintech’s will often have no physical presence at all, instead having built up their services with digital outlets in mind. As such, they were perfectly placed to adapt to this shift.
A similar pattern will be witnessed should a customer or business try to open a new account or access additional finance. Traditionally, this will require the applicant to produce physical documents to verify their identification, and their credibility as a borrower. With brick and mortar locations either remaining closed or operating at a severely reduced capacity, this inhibits the ability of many traditional banks to process these new applications, again resulting in a backlog. Some fintech’s meanwhile have used technology which allows for this process to be done digitally, utilising automation to ensure that the process is smoother.
Many consumers – having been forced to employ technology to manage their finances – will have also been impressed with the greater convenience, and will seek to switch to using digital forms more permanently. This means that what they look for from their financial service provider may change. For example, this shift will see aspects such as the app user experience, digital account opening, and remote claims become more important in determining what service to use. While the traditional banks can and do provide these services, in many cases they are hindered by having to build on top of legacy software, and a lack of expertise when compared to newer fintech’s, many of whom will have been established with these features in mind. This will mean that they’ll be well placed to take advantage of the newer consumer demands due to the higher quality of their features provided.
Making money go further
The average consumer will now be seeking ways to make their money go further. With the global economic outlook looking precarious to say the least, most people will look to sure up their finances. This is as the pandemic has made many people realise that it isn’t viable to live paycheck to paycheck, and has shown the importance of having a financial backup plan and the benefits of having another source of income, such as owning income producing assets. Even though more people are now looking to involve themselves in their finances and investing, the barrier to entry is still very high for those starting out as investors when it comes to accessing and effectively managing investments. As such, a banking platform which allows consumers to manage all their financial assets in a single place, utilising technology such as automation to grow the value of these assets will be very well placed to capture market share.
COVID-19 has already redressed the world in a fashion that was once unthinkable. We’ve seen mass upheaval to the way we live, work and spend our money, and the financial sector has had to scramble to meet expectations as society changes around it. This has led to the growth of a number of new companies who’ve risen to the challenge by offering greater flexibility and a better standard of service to consumers. While for now this appears to be the start of a revolution, only time will tell whether this will continue as we emerge from lockdown.
