Fintech/Opinion/ Dear Monzo, Starling and co; We’re still a long way off the perfect neobank Former Lloyds Bank director Alessandro Hatami explains what he thinks digital banks need to do next. Photo by Peter Ramsey, Built for Mars Photo by Peter Ramsey, Built for Mars \Fintech How open banking can transform real estate By Sifted 23 June 2022 Fintech/Opinion/ Dear Monzo, Starling and co; We’re still a long way off the perfect neobank Former Lloyds Bank director Alessandro Hatami explains what he thinks digital banks need to do next. By Alessandro Hatami Monday 22 June 2020 By Alessandro Hatami Monday 22 June 2020 Over the last decade, so-called “challenger” banks like Monzo, Starling and Revolut have served as beacons of opportunity, promising a new way of banking. This has prompted their predecessors — the incumbents — to undergo several phases of digital transformation; something I watched first-hand when I was a digital exec at Lloyds Bank. But, so far, neither fintechs nor incumbent banks have truly transformed the finance industry. They have simply adapted the traditional banking model to a digital model, rather than finding new ways to provide credit, simplify payments, or make investment decisions. Now, I fear, they are in a state of ‘comfortable complacency’ (a feeling that ‘we have this digital thing under control’). There is still much more to be done. A good way to understand banking transformation is the music industry analogy. Traditional banks are like Tower Records, the music-store chain popular in the ’90s. Then came along Napster and iTunes (these are the challenger banks), who still just sold songs but in digital download form rather than physical form. iTunes challenged Tower Records and evolved the industry but the true transformation came with Spotify. They realised that customers did not want to buy songs; they wanted to listen to music and stream it. Today, it’s unclear who the ‘Spotify of banking’ will be. Challenger banks have simply moved what older players did in-branch, online, following in the footsteps of iTunes. Some banks are creating fresh products, but they’re not really changing the industry. The ‘transformation’ stage requires fintechs to rethink what banking is and why its customers need it. Few, if any, have attempted this. Imagining the perfect neobank There are three things banking customers fundamentally need — and are worth disrupting. Let us try to imagine what ‘transformation’ in these areas could look like in ‘The Ideal Neobank’: 1. A Payment Account: Imagine a bank that allows you to seamlessly pay anyone, anywhere: be it your babysitter, your favourite retailer or a holiday home abroad. The bank takes care of everything and you can always be sure you will always get the fastest, cheapest, most secure solution possible. 2. A Credit Line: Instead of an overdraft, personal loan, credit card, car finance or a mortgage you get a credit line. The bank knows you and will advance cash (with guarantees if required) as you need it. You make one payment a month — like a subscription — to pay for it. 3. A Savings/Protection Tool: You have some excess capital and the bank enables you to buy any product in the market that allows you to protect and grow it. This would not only include savings accounts and investments but also pensions and insurance. And your bank would sell you any such product in the market that meets your needs — whether or not it’s their product or a third party’s. In the ideal neobank, all three offerings would be supported by ‘intelligent advice’, where the bank gives impartial and accurate advice on which products are best suited to users’ specific needs and goals. The neobank would aim to be profitable by retaining the customer by offering the best choice, personalisation and advice. Many banks and fintechs claim they already offer this, but I am not sure their customers agree. Banks still sell financial products rather than financial solutions. For existing banks to deliver the ideal neobank, it will require a major redefinition of their operating model. A transformation that many incumbent banks (and even most existing fintechs) will find difficult to deliver. Now, Covid-19 has accelerated the disruption of financial services, which will prompt big tech companies like Amazon to enter the fray. It will be fascinating to see which of today’s incumbents and fintechs will still be leading the industry in 10 years’ time. This is an amended extract from Reinventing Banking and Finance — an upcoming book by Helene Panzarino and Alessandro Hatami, set to be published later this year. Hatami worked at PayPal before joining Lloyds in 2011 as chief operating officer of their digital bank. He is now a managing partner at Pacemakers, a boutique advisory firm focused on digital transformation in banking. Related Articles Member Digital banks Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 compared By Isabel Woodford and Kim Darrah Click here to read more Is this the new face of Generation Z banking? By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Another challenger bank is trying its luck in the UK. This is how it hopes to sweep the market By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Most Read 1 \Startup Life Where are Europe’s top digital nomad villages? 2 \Public & Academic UCL and Oxford are Europe’s ‘worst universities for spinouts’ 3 Member \Venture Capital The top early-stage investors in the Netherlands 4 \Consumer Pitch tops Europe’s B2B tech soonicorns list 5 \Venture Capital Octopus Ventures launches its first-ever pre-seed fund of £10m 7 Join the conversation Subscribe newest oldest Notify of new follow-up comments new replies to my comments JamesWhile it may be true to say that there is more travel distance – the author is looking at this from a more “traditional” perspective. I have almost entirely abandoned traditional banks in favour of neobanks – the service is better, and is as close to 24/7 as I’ve ever seen. Instant notifications of payments made / received – so simple, yet absent from apps from the traditional banks; ‘Disposable’ digital cards for use online shopping; ‘Pots’ for saving, or bill management. These are the simple things that are useful and streamline things for people. Whether or not there is… Read more »Simon AxonHi Alessandro, I agree totally with the sentiment and now is the time for strategic change and data driven innovation. I believe critical to the Bank of the Future, or the perfect neobank, is the automation of data driven processes which can be delivered by a data orchestration platform. This is not easy, but the value generation is significant, and the data asset rapidly becomes more valuable than your physical assets. Dharmesh MistryUntil a neobank shows up with a proposition other than “better banking” (which is analagous to “faster horses”) not much is going to change. You can beat the incumbents without competing on different terms, i.e. a different business model. I believe that model has to go beyond banking towards what I call Experience Driven Banking GeorgeThese are very good points. I haven’t found my preference yet, even as a customer of the “big 4” neobanks and 20+ years investment experience. Personal circumstances change, hence the traditional banks’ 1 size fits all approach. #3 seems fraught with risk: how does a future “lean” model bank approach (as a 1 stop shop) the regulations/compliance necessary to avoid future versions of past problems such as pension mis-selling, mini-bonds, peer2peer lockdowns, Woodford going off piste etc. “Instant access” for property investments, say, is a paradox. Funding for lending in 2012 pretty much killed off any hope for the traditional… Read more »Enda BreslinHi Alessandro, great article. I like the Spotify analogy, and the three things banks need to do. Does any new fintech come close to delivering those 3 things today? Thanks, Enda Kath ClarkeI recently opened up an account from one of the new banks and was shocked at how poor the customer experience was trying to open a simple business account. Many businesses even those in the tech spacevoverlook the last millimetre, the last few steps from their product to the consumer. This means that onboarding is overlooked – leading to customers dropping off. Many businesses don’t regularly test their user journeys and this was more than apparent for the bank in question. So it really doesn’t matter if you are a disruptor or traditional brand, getting the customer experience absolutely perfect… Read more »JamesWeird – I have had exactly the opposite from both Starling and Monzo! Not tried Revolut for business, but have heard some stories of it being lengthy?
Member Digital banks Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 compared By Isabel Woodford and Kim Darrah Click here to read more
Another challenger bank is trying its luck in the UK. This is how it hopes to sweep the market By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more