Ecosystems & eCommerce: New Opportunities and Challenges for the Banking Sector
In a world where traditional revenues are shrinking, banks must adopt platforms to deliver services and products. Ecosystems and marketplaces provide the ideal space for banks to meet customers’ needs by onboarding partners and facilitating the end-to-end delivery of offerings.
Current State of Ecosystems in Banking
Banks are not turning into ecosystems because they enjoy it. Somewhat, serving as a one-stop shop for their customers has become an obligation. Financial institutions have long insisted on building their entire IT architecture in-house. Financial institutions are control freaks by nature and rightfully so - banking is built on risk management, security, and regulatory compliance. Banks feel more secure and in control when they build their own applications.
Mantvydas Stareika, CEO and Board Member at SME Bank, elaborates on the difficulties faced by the financial sector and the solutions to these challenges. The services available from a large-scale firm vary from those of SMEs. SMEs often provide tailor-made services faster and small business owners expect personalized service, which has resulted in numerous changes in small business banking trends. It is also interesting to highlight that during the COVID-19 pandemic, customers moved drastically toward online platforms, and the market catered for that. Nevertheless, the challenge is maintaining the quality and providing assistance for the customers' problems. The world of today forces the financial sector to provide instantaneous service along with the best quality and security.