These are the female faces of the industry
Every Wednesday in our popular series “Faces of the Industry”, people from the payment and banking industry answer our standardized questionnaire with ten questions each. Over the years, a large number of interesting answers have come together.
This series also features many great women in the industry, whose ideas, visions and foresight have had a decisive impact on the financial industry and are driving the path towards greater diversity. Today there is a selection of their answers to the question: What do you think established companies do better than FinTechs?
“One must never forget, of course, that established companies were once founded and were ‘FinTechs’ and have proven themselves over time, developed profitably and built many customer relationships. Due to their many years of experience and large customer base, they were able to gather a lot of knowledge (today this would be summarized under “Big Data”). This knowledge can be used to develop products and services tailored to the needs of existing customers and thus retain their loyalty;
Pavlina Popova, from cash/viacash
“Established companies have some important assets, especially data. Through their existing, long-term customer relationships and the associated transaction history, they have a very good view of their customers. There are many companies that have recognized these assets.
One example of this is American Express, which is a pioneer in Advanced Analytics/Big Data and has successfully applied the knowledge it has gained to reduce fraud and identity theft. Partnerships with FinTechs have also played an important role along the way. This is a trend I am very pleased to observe: From today’s perspective, traditional companies and FinTechs have learned a lot from each other. All in all, I think it is great to see how established banks and FinTechs are increasingly approaching each other, appreciate each other and no longer see each other as competitors, but as partners who benefit from each other.
Dr. Verena Thaler from Raisin
“Established companies have much more experience in customer service, implementation and regulatory compliance. This in turn strengthens customer confidence.”
Sonya Scott from American Express Germany
“Since we are in a highly regulated market, established companies are usually already very experienced in moving within the regulatory framework and setting up processes accordingly. This often helps when it comes to bringing new things into the market. But it can also be a disadvantage if processes are too narrow and there is no room for new and innovative thinking and trying things out.
Laura Wirtz from the ING
“My first thought was: of course processes and structures! However, at the same moment the thought arises that this is not really true. Established companies have the time on their side, i.e. time to learn from the beginnings, to transfer experiences into ways to develop a vision and a culture within the organization. This experience is a strategic advantage when it is sensibly transferred into corporate knowledge, culture, structures, processes, etc. However, it can just as quickly turn into a disadvantage if the company’s view is too inward-looking, if success puts employees to sleep, and if their questioning and further thinking puts them at a standstill..”
Nicole Change from Pair Finance
“Traditional companies still have a high level of brand awareness, which often leads to a leap of faith with the customer. How well they then use this advance varies greatly.”
Birte Sewing from Finleap
“If we look at the financial services sector, traditional banks certainly (still) have the advantage that they already have a large customer base, while young companies still have to build it up. But the simple KYC and onboarding processes become, the less important this advantage will be in the future.”
Delia King from the Solaris Bank
“When it comes to public affairs, i.e. classic lobbying, established players naturally have a tremendous advantage in terms of experience, networks and resources, which I have envied many times in my daily work. Whether or not they make good use of it is another matter, but above all they are more reflective and recognize risks with more foresight due to their long-term experience in a complex industry. They are methodically cleaner when it comes to strategy, better prepared and more patient and realistic when it comes to projects. They are therefore more professional in implementing ideas. Unfortunately, however, it is precisely these qualities that stand in your way.”
Cornelia Schwertner from Finleap Connect
“Established companies usually have structures and processes in place, which can be positive, but often makes decision-making processes much slower. They usually already have a large customer base and the trust of customers, which start-ups must first build up.”
Lea Frank from Anybill
“It is in the nature of things that established branch banks have good access to their customers. It’s a personal business, even if the customer service there doesn’t always succeed in identifying customers’ needs and keeping up to date. FinTechs can sometimes find it difficult to adopt a similar practical approach to their plans for rapid market growth. But overcoming this dilemma is what makes it such an exciting area to work in.”
Marie Moesgard by Pleo
“One should not think in such categories, but rather ask oneself the question: What can banks learn from FinTechs and vice versa? Here it can be stated that banks can learn from the working methods and philosophy of FinTechs. This includes trying out new approaches, improvisation and flexibility as a mindset.
Conversely, mature processes – such as banks have – are also necessary for medium to long-term stability and the trust that customers only then build. The personal relationship between the customer and their financial service provider is then certainly the result that FinTechs is working towards”.
Verena Freyer from Lendico
“Established companies usually have a long tradition and therefore an existing customer relationship. The existing infrastructure is an advantage, especially for older customers who like to seek personal contact in the branch. However, more and more banks are currently reducing the number of their branches, so this advantage is visibly diminishing”.
Jessica Holzbach of penta