SunTec

  “A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd This may be extended much further in today's environment. When banks try to play it safe, they're doomed. In the digital era, where clients want and expect contextual offerings, the need to innovate is paramount. The only way to stand out and remain ahead of the competition is to keep inventing —in terms of products and services. Agility has become a cliché in recent years - yet clichés exist for a reason. Banks need agility in general, and competitive agility in particular, to survive. But how can a bank stay nimble with decades-old legacy systems when fresher fintech businesses have flexible technology that allows them to make any essential adjustment in days? Let's talk about the 'why' before we go into the 'how. Most corporate banks are of the opinion that since their customers are corporations, they are equally burdened with legacy systems and therefore cannot react as...

  The world of banking was changing rapidly even before the pandemic hit. Customers wanted a different banking experience and fintechs were ready with their tech powered innovative offerings. Despite, the trust enjoyed by traditional banks, customers, especially the younger ones, were increasingly willing to try different and unique financial services that offered them choice, control, and  hyper personalized  services . And as the pandemic unfolded across the world, banking changed even more. Bad loans increased, loan applications reduced, and customer behavior changed. As social distancing became the norm, online banking went mainstream and early research indicates that this trend may be here to stay. Under these circumstances, traditional banks must reinvent their strategies and operational models to continue acquiring and retaining customers. The foundation of a new banking strategy must be based on customer centric relationship models – understanding what the custome...

  Fueled by the pandemic’s unique challenges, the Buy Now Pay Later trend is here to stay. And everyone from large banks to tech giants to fintechs are eager to grab a share of the pie. The latest entrant in this emerging field is Apple Inc. 1  It is all set to launch a “Buy Now Pay Later” (BNPL) service in association with the Goldman Sachs Group. Under the Apple Pay Later service, consumers using Apple Pay will be able to pay for any purchase in instalments over a specified period of time. This will incentivize wider adoption of Apple Pay as consumers get the freedom to buy items, they would normally not be able to afford. This niche and emerging service is estimated to be about USD 22 trillion globally. 2  And as it begins to attract both customers and providers, it is important to understand how it works, the myriad factors fueling its adoption, and its potential for growth. BNPL vs Credit Cards The concept of deferred payments is not new. The credit card industry is ...

  By allowing banks to leverage third party applications to expand their product portfolios, open banking opens the doors to limitless innovation.  Traditionally, customer data always remained with the bank. Open banking represents a fundamental shift in this paradigm as it puts customers in charge of their own data. They are free to share their data including transaction details with third parties, which helps different third-party organizations to come up with personalized, intuitive, and cost-effective offerings. This will lead to the adoption of banking-as-a- service and open limitless possibilities for differentiated and customized offerings across numerous touch points. Understandably, interest in open banking models is high. In 2020, 29 percent of CXOs said that open banking was their choice of innovation strategy for the future. 1  And 45 percent said it was a part of their larger digital ecosystem vision. As open banking picks up pace, organizations have to figur...