Its understandable that banks could see this as a threatdrawing away customers and even potentiallyrendering their services obsolete.
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Theyre looking for low-cost solutions that will help them manage these financial concerns.
In a number of ways, the current financial services sector is at a crossroads.
An increasinglytech-savvy, smartphone-wielding generation of customers is not going to be satisfied with the status quo.
Both sides face very different internal challenges.
But together, the two entities can combine their efforts to overcome some of these barriers.
This special branch of the bank is focused on partnering and investing in up-and-coming fintechs.
Many of the problems banks and their customers face already have solutions created by fintechs.
Meanwhile, these fintechs just need a boost to get their products to market.
A big challenge with this product development is building secure platforms for online trading and financial management.
Data breaches are on the rise, and banks cant afford to be too comfortable.
Fintech companies can help banks in this respect by harnessing cutting-edge tech to provide more secure solutions.
In contrast, banks have access to millions of loyal customers who rely on their services.
[Banks] can save fintechs millions in customer acquisition costs and years in scaling,
says Bongers.
Another way banks can help fintech companies is in their understanding of regulatory challenges.
Thats a field where we strongly believe theres an opportunity.
Its a competitive market, and fintech startups face an uphill battle to establish themselves and thrive.
But their presence is meant to disrupt, and disrupt it has.
Banks can not afford to rely on long-established practices and customer bases at the expense of growth and innovation.
