Digital Banking 28
Cloud, the spine
Dear all,
We addressed in the last post the female employee situation in the technology arena. Plenty of feedback. April 12th was the day a man should start working (and charge), so that on average he would have made the same as a woman at year end, having started she on the first of January. Value and not gender - or other condition - should be the driver for reward.
Many news lately in the market regarding alliances among fintech and banks to provide SME with financing options - check this out, bankinnovation.net. I have to agree on the fact this is a way to access credit for customers that would not initially clear the threshold in the risk assessment process of a bank. And I tend to agree those prospects may become "full" bank customers in the future were they successful in their businesses; ... in this case, I am afraid this point is also considered by microfinance lenders (please, let me be politically incorrect).
However the trees may be blocking our view of the woods, ...and we must see further. We have to consider that already "full" customers may find here funding solutions that suit better their needs, they may find here solutions that are not in the classical bank product catalogue. And here comes the main difference (from my point of view) with other types of collaboration among fintechs and banks; it is no longer about reaching an agreement on the fintech technology for the bank to serve its customers - line that has to exist and run its course - or disintermediating financial services that are ultimately provided by incumbents (sorry, most of payments), but selling fintech financial products; it is ultimately a business alliance. And it unveils a world of possibilities and questions (ie. who is responsible if anything goes unexpectedly? the bank? the fintech? the customer? what customer? ...).
Cloud ... and more cloud. Last week I was looking at home for an ethernet cable. I did not find any. I do not know what will happen the day we cannot connect to the wifi ... or rather to cloud through the wifi. Cloud is the backbone of a digital world that is not parallel to ours, but it is actually ours. It is the world where a growing part of our life is, it is the world that is storing the information of our life. Cloud stand for the "C" in SMAC, an acronym that aspires to comprehend the underlying technologies of Digital.
"By the end of 2017, Google plans to build 12 new data centers around the world to increase the global footprint of its Cloud Platform services, the company announced on Tuesday. After the expansion, Google’s Cloud Platform will be available in 15 regions across the globe – market leader Amazon Web Services covers 12 regions with plans for 5 more." statista.com
Talking about Google, talking about cloud, talking about fintech, talking about banking ... check out these two articles:
I hesitated when stating cloud was the essence of digital. I doubted whether it was cloud or mobility (referring here to the mobile devices). And finally I went for 'cloud' because the concept that today we have of the mobile device is necessarily shaped by cloud. I had a mobile fifteen years ago ... and it was indeed a mobile phone ... with the weight and size of any mobile today ... but the 'concept' was different; it was a mobile phone. Today in my pocket I have a mobile connection to the cloud. Reflect on this report: federalreserve.gov/consumers-and-mobile-financial-services
Talking about mobile devices ... evolution of Apple's revenue in the last 40 years
"While remarkably successful from the start – Apple went from zero to one and a half billion dollars in revenue within eight years – there were some ups and downs in the company’s early days. It wasn’t until Steve Jobs’ second stint as CEO that Apple became what it is today: the most valuable company in the world. With the release of the iPhone in 2007, Apple’s revenue (and profit for that matter) started to skyrocket, reaching a record $234 billion in fiscal 2015." www.statista.com
The analysis could be too superficial were we at hardware level. I reckon the real change does not come with the iPhone but with the iPod, as far as it means the moment Apple stopped being a HW supplier, to become a service provider ... by the way, on demand ... by the way, based on the cloud - would it have worked all the same if we could not have accessed content whenever and wherever we wanted?
Last but not least, ir.citi.com/How FinTech is Forcing Banking to a Tipping Point. It may take some of your hours to be read, but seems to be very complete. It may be interesting go to one chapter a day. It is a report that we will hear about; actually we are already doing it.
Have a gr8 wknd.
Cheers
