News

FIs have 4 options for a digital future, not all of them good

November 10, 2017

It turns out that generational stereotypes are just that — stereotypes — when it comes to consumer expectations about mobile-only financial services.

Boomers, X-ers and millennials all expect the same things: trust; transparency; and time-saving, according to a new report sponsored by Banco Santander and conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

A digital future: financial services and the generation game — based on research and interviews with senior representatives of financial institutions and companies — determines that financial service providers have four strategic options:

1. They can do the minimum to comply and risk becoming "dumb pipes."
2. They can capitalize on their current relationships and offer new digital services.
3. They can rush to keep up with their competitors by trying to become the go-to aggregator.
4. They can go for broke and try to become a true digital hub of one-stop financial services.

Providers who take the defensive route risk being sidelined, while those who engage in bold cooperation with fintech companies will keep customer trust, according to the report.

"The financial services sector is embracing technological change unevenly," Renée Friedman, editor of the report, said. "Some sectors and players will have to completely rethink their approaches to take advantage of changing demographics and lower cost technologies if they are to maintain trust with existing clients and develop opportunities with new ones."