FinTech’s Are The Digitization Drivers Of The Financial Sector

Banks and fintech’s are two worlds that were originally completely opposite and are now on a course for cooperation, driven not least by the high pressure to reduce costs and the necessary optimization of the online and mobile banking offering on the part of the banks. They enter into a mutual partnership for the benefit of their customers. Banks are no longer perceived as stuffy and old-fashioned, but instead come up with new types of services that make them look more lively and modern. Until recently, one often had the impression that one was dealing with highly bureaucratic institutions, but the fintech’s have given the banks a long-overdue face-lift.

In our article , banks rely on cooperation with fintech’s. We have already described the promising alliance between banks and fintech’s. Today we want to take a closer look at fintech’s. To what extent do they actually succeed in bringing a breath of fresh air into the financial sector and where do they reach their limits?

The Young Savages Conquer The Market

Fintechs are children of the start-up movement, but what exactly are start-ups? It’s been a good 20 years since this phenomenon made its way into German business life. Like so many other things, this movement spilled over to us from the USA and the Internet fueled its development. Initially it was about business plan competitions, but something like a start-up scene soon established itself.

Start-ups thrived and still thrive on this fertile breeding ground: Young companies with innovative business ideas, concepts, products or projects that are said to have good prospects of success. They are mostly located in the technology and internet sector. They finance themselves through venture capital, business angels, crowdfunding, state subsidies, contest pitches and much more. The focus is always on a convincing business plan. In most cases, start-ups are founded as teams, which means that several jobs are created at the same time.

When It Comes To Corporate Culture, Different Worlds Collide

The milieu in which fintech’s thrive is very special. It is not least shaped by the digital natives, i.e. the generation that grew up in the digital world and knows nothing else. People treat each other differently in such companies: Starting with casual clothing, casual interaction continues – mostly on first-name terms, with flat hierarchies and agile work structures. The employees are characterized by a strong motivation to implement projects efficiently and with a high degree of personal responsibility.

They rely on their own time management, but always have the well-being of the team in mind. And one more thing is striking: They have a different feedback culture than traditional companies, and especially the banks. In the banking sector, the traditional behavioural patterns of an often slightly outdated corporate culture with the usual hierarchies that must be observed still apply. FinTech’s, on the other hand, have an open and transparent corporate culture that relies on feedback methods such as “radical candor”, i.e. radical sincerity or positive openness (how to get what you want by saying what you mean).

Banks And The Legacy Of Legacy

Banks are mostly traditional houses and tradition is also their flagship and often the reason for a loyal customer base that has grown over the years. You can’t create trust overnight, it’s a long process. From an IT point of view, banks often have to deal with outdated and cumbersome legacy systems, and this is where the fintech’s score with user-friendly apps, with quick solutions for processes that used to take much more time from customers (and banks). For example, they bring banking services such as account management to smartphones. But the different corporate cultures also collide. And that’s ultimately a good thing. Both can learn from each other, benefit and stimulate each other. And last but not least, the customer should be on the winning side.

Banks And fintech’s – Tradition And Modernity

In times of digital transformation and the disruptive changes that go along with it, it is crucial that new future-oriented business models emerge that are based on the best that banks and fintech’s have to offer. If the best aspects of the corporate cultures of banks and fintech’s then also merge into an organic corporate culture of cooperation characterized by trust, the foundations for the new working worlds of tomorrow are ultimately created in the banking sector. A fresh breeze is already blowing in our faces in this respect.

Also Read: Ideas To Digitally Transform Your Company