Ian Max Ewart, CRD Advisor, Acin
Irfan Khan, CEO, MMOB
Jarosław Granat, Head of Client Engagement, Future Processing
Collaboration to Drive the Future of Financial Services
By Jarosław Granat, Head of Client Engagement, Future Processing, Ian Max Ewart, CRD Advisor, Acin, and Irfan Khan, CEO, MMOB.
In recent years, the term FinTech has been used to characterise alternative financiers and direct-to-consumer financial services disruptors. But it has now been redefined to include any technology enterprise developing innovative solutions for financial institutions. And, while the purpose of FinTech businesses over the last decade has been to disrupt the financial system by providing an alternative to traditional financial services in response to perceived public scepticism following the 2008 financial crisis, that objective has transformed once again.
FinTech organisations and financial institutions have discovered that by collaborating rather than competing, everyone may be more successful. Partnerships with FinTechs are becoming an increasingly important part of the financial sector’s strategy. Finding and establishing the right partner allows financial institutions to remain competitive among peers and competitors by providing them with access to cutting-edge, scalable solutions.
During a Future Processing roundtable, speakers with extensive expertise in the technology sector shared their knowledge and experiences. Jarosław Granat, Head of Client Engagement at Future Processing, Ian Max Ewart, CRD Advisor at Acin, and Irfan Khan, CEO of mmob, got involved in the conversation on collaboration and cutting-edge technologies.
Building True Innovation
Previously, organisations with innovation departments were viewed unfavourably, as they often tried to innovate without addressing a specific problem. Innovation needs to solve real problems for real people. Businesses may better position themselves by establishing long-term partnerships that promote true innovation through continual collaborations. Developing a culture of innovation is essential to staying competitive in an increasingly volatile landscape.
Many organisations are notorious for having an abundance of ideas with no clear strategy on how to implement and capitalise on them. Financial institutions should concentrate on current organisational issues and operational obstacles and develop innovative plans to overcome them. In recent years, consumer ecology has shifted considerably. Evolving customer expectations, new competitors, technical advancements, and greater regulatory requirements are causing incumbent providers to accelerate their digital transformation and embrace new ways of innovating.
Considering the Risks
Today’s rush to revolutionise long-established financial organisations has pushed issues such as data-driven security, ageing infrastructure risk, and stringent regulatory compliance, to the forefront. And, while the majority of these obstacles are here to stay, each technological challenge provides a variety of reasons to question the status quo and provide alternative solutions that will ensure a competitive advantage. As a result, IT needs a seat at the boardroom table in order to understand the technology utilised within the organisation and propose new ideas to the C-Suite in order to remain competitive.
Despite the greatest of intentions, not all partnerships succeed. Lack of ownership and strategy, project weariness, risk aversion, and excessive expectations are all common mistakes. Too frequently, financial institutions want a miracle cure, but significant results take time. Setting expectations and re-evaluating the success and performance of these collaborations regularly will guarantee that both parties achieve optimal results.
Looking for Success
The current FinTech trend of parties collaborating through partnerships has matured into a common business practice that will affect and shape the financial sector for many years to come. FinServs and FinTechs should continue to collaborate in some manner in order to remain viable, competitive, and relevant since it has a significant influence on long-term growth for all parties, but only if the overall partnership strategy and objective are clearly aligned. Each entity will have distinct motives and goals for establishing a partnership. With this in mind, they must define what success means to them from the outset of a project. Only once both sides’ strategies are in alignment, can a project commence.
