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FICO WORLD 24

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Disrupt from Within!

Most of the time BankersLab uses simulation to teach the more analytic and nuanced aspects of portfolio management to our clients.  However, more recently we’ve seen our clients realizing they need to get out from behind their desks and get more “street smart” about FinTech.

This month we facilitated a two-day FinTech workshop for a group of senior retail bankers that tackled how to keep up with rapid innovation and a changing competitive landscape. A few key themes emerged:

Follow the data. To be more specific, follow your customers, and uncover the trails of data they leave behind.   As bankers, we may still have traditional thinking about our customer’s data, such as payment, transaction and credit bureau data. But if you followed “a day in the life” of your customer, and explored all the data they generate through mobile, ecommerce and payments, a new picture would unfold.

It’s not about the tech, baby!Rethink the business model. There are misperceptions that FinTech disruption is all about tech.  In reality, some of the business market disruptions rely on very little tech, but instead offer a new business model. Peer-to-peer lending is a great example.  As a bank, refer back to point 1, follow your customer and take a fresh look at how their behaviors are changing, and how you can disrupt your own business model and product offerings.

Change comes in many shapes and sizes. It’s imperative that we transform the culture and problem solving approaches that we use in the bank. This is an incremental change that supports the step changes (new product offerings), which then leads to tectonic changes, such as spinning off new partnerships or lending entities.  Yes, change must come from the top, but until the middle and back office are behind it, you won’t get far!

Now, go join a FinTech social event, enjoy some geeky tech talk, and have fun innovating!