Retail

Financial services & fintech

“Deep sector expertise in digital customer facing roles. Suzie really understood my needs and provided the right connections to get more women in the boardroom.”

Chief Customer Officer, FTSE 100 Bank

Financial Services & Fintech

Through new technology and changing consumer habits, the financial services landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. Previously new market entrants found it difficult to break into the financial services industry but fintech is driving a new business model. Key influencers in this sector include Blockchain, AI and Customer Data/Intelligence.

Fintech disruptors are fast-moving companies, often start-ups, focused on a particular innovative technology or process, in everything from mobile payments to insurance and they have been attacking some of the most profitable elements of the financial services value chain. We will see a growth in the sharing economy, using information technology to find efficient matches between providers and users of capital, rather than automatically turning to a bank as an intermediary.

Today’s “digital” wave has the same markers: separate teams, budgets, and resources to advance a digital agenda. This agenda extends from customer experience and operational efficiency to big data and analytics. In financial services, we have seen this approach applied to payments, retail banking, insurance, and wealth management. Technology advances have given businesses access to exponentially more data about what users do and want. It is an amazing opportunity for whomever can use analytics to unlock the information inside, to give customers what they really want. We are already seeing alliances between leading incumbent financial services and technology companies, using robotics and AI to address key pressure points, reduce costs, and mitigate risks.