«With the arrival of Spotify the customer has stopped wanting to buy the CD or the song: he just wants access to the music. A conversion similar to that of the music industry will take place in the banking world ». Alexander Hatami, Managing Partner Pacemakers, is the co-author of Reinventing Banking and Finance, a book written together with Helene Panzarino (published by KoganPage Editore), in which the evolution of fintech at a global level is analyzed to understand how this sector can innovate the relationship between consumers / citizens / savers and banking institutions. "With digital banking - adds Hatami - we go back to basics: now the bank thinks much more about what the user's need really is, in a logic that seems one to one, but is one to million". The expert makes the historical comparison with the Banco di San Giorgio in Genoa: we did not focus so much on selling products to customers, but we aimed to retain them with an offer tailored to their needs. Finance is one of the key themes of the first episode of Signs of the Future, the online docuseries that summarizes the best of the latest edition of the Festival del Futuro.
Fintech: the numbers in the world
Between 2015 and 2020, according to CBInsights, the 250 startups and scaleups fintech most structured in the world have collected nearly 50 billion dollars of loans in a total of 900 agreements. "For a fintech - explains Hatami - the important thing is to scale up and become big in markets that accept its offer from a regulatory point of view". It is still early to understand which will be there new bank of the future, but it's not unlikely it could come from China, which is breeding ground for so-called superapps like WeChat. In addition to being a messaging platform, in fact, the latter offers the possibility to pay, book and sell. «With this logic - comments Hatami - one never thinks of money and banking services. A bank looks like friend, show flexibility and gain confidence. In essence, the bank of the future will agree to earn less to maintain a lasting relationship with the customer ». The future of the banking world and much more will be discussed in the scheduled online event Tuesday 11 May, The Global Banking Forum, to which it is still possible to subscribe.
Among the most interesting challenges in the future of the fintech there will also be innovation for the so-called unbanked, i.e. consumers who do not have active traditional banking services such as current accounts or credit cards. If in Italy the 93% of the population has similar products (in Austria it reaches 98%), in other regions of the world the situation is the opposite. «The unbanked don't have much money, but they hide enormous potential. In India, for example, the mobile phone has become the bank counter and I imagine great innovations can come from this context. In Europe it is a very small segment. In China, with over a billion inhabitants, the average income is lower than that of a European ”. If we mentioned the 250 strongest fintechs in the world - inside we find, for example, Revolut, Stripe is Coinbase - finally the Big Four, which will play a decisive role in the fintech landscape of the future. Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple are in the game. According to the authors of Reinventing Banking and Finance, this step could be among the most revolutionary. "Sooner or later - concludes Hatami - we will do banking with these subjects". In fact, recently Whatsapp (aka Facebook) has relaunched the money exchange test via the messaging app in Brazil.
Alessandro Di Stefano
