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The Top Fintechs Have a 350% Larger Customer Base than the Largest Banks

Elnur Bayaliyev — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 11:57:00 +0000

The world of banking, payments and financial services as a whole is being taken over by financial technology. Innovator firms, both small and large, have been challenging the system since 2008, and today one could spot that a massive share of customers, those who used to inhabit existing ecosystems and those who did not have access to that, is now a part of, or flows into, the new landscape.

By the Numbers: Fintechs Dominate Banks

As one could see from the graph above, we have compared the customer bases of top enterprises within both categories and cross-compared them as well. Though, it has to be highlighted that the business models and customer segments served are not consistent for the companies presented, nor the value sources. What is clear though is that, when summed together, the top 10 Fintechs provide service to a customer base that is 350% (5,791mln vs 1,652mln) larger than that of traditional institutions, and it’s given that Fintechs as a phenomenon were not there 10 years ago.

When it comes to cross-comparison, 7/10 Fintech entities have a higher volume of customers, and, in some cases, this divergence is stark. For instance, a payments champion, Visa, has managed to tap on 36.87 times larger volume of consumers, when set against JP Morgan Chase. On the other hand, when values for the Agricultural Bank of China are compared to a fast-growing unicorn Stripe, one might wonder what brings these entities together. Modest 2mln customers would not be able to rival 320mln million. That’s what was the case just several years ago. However, when market capitalisation comes in, things change dramatically. The following section will unravel some of the factors that allowed for this standoff.

Fuel for Fintech Growth

Thanks to the growth of capital markets, hatching narrow segments of customer groups, technological advancements and general discontent of the community about the financial system, small businesses with an innovative idea and a team with developer expertise can shoot for the stars to compete with massive conglomerates. For the former, UK venture capital investment volume has jumped from $37.4bln in 2007 to $135.6bln in 2019 (OECD, n.d.), what offers a remarkable growth of 263%.

Whether that was the openness of foreign markets, easing access to the public or the investor rush for a new garage Google, opportunities for “cashful” growth and escape from bootstrapping have sprouted dramatically. Previous obstructions to setting up a tech unicorn were also diminished by existing financial institutions, which had to renovate their legacy systems or build something new. So just as crocs needed tiny plover birds to get rid of struck food, industry whales had to spend a share of their budgets to bring to light some of those challengers. In addition, internet-driven global access has united and unravelled niche markets for consumers, the future fuel for the growth of narrow-specialised businesses, a phenomenon, later referred to as Amazonification.

In the meantime, web interconnectedness, channelled through old Web 1.0 APIs and aspiring Web 2.0/Blockchain APIs, brought in problems to be solved by innovator businesses and rife competition, as infrastructure became more transparent. To add to it, after the market crash of 2008, many people lost faith in traditional financial institutions, being attracted by the new entities, deemed creative or novel, whether that would be a digital wallet like Paypal or the system of agentless value transfers like Bitcoin and its successors.

Are Fintechs Taking Over?

Nevertheless, concluding that Fintech firms would completely capture the market in the coming years would be hasty. There are several aspects in place that could hamper the total transformation of the financial landscape. First, the reality that market entities are facing is that both types of institutions have to work together to deliver better services. For the new generation of institutions, it has proven to be more efficient to assist older counterparts in improving their legacy systems or mostly tackling the issues of segments, hardly served by incumbents. Here also takes place the factor of global M&A markets, whereby wealthier whales maintain their shares by acquiring potential rivals or developing them themselves within the ecosystem.

Second, the regulatory environment, keen on being lobbied and protective of the big financial services providers, is very unlikely to leave this development unsupervised. Third, since the late 1980s, the global society has been seeing the age of vertical hypercompetition, whereby institutions tend to compete rather as coalitions than individual businesses. Therefore, unless the unfolding wave of disintermediation scales up, aspiring Fintechs are unlikely to reach the peak of their potential. However, it might be that hype for the new technology and people’s finance would overcome these barriers. Thus, it would be interesting to observe the future direction of trends.

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Extrapreneurship – The Future of Entrepreneurship in Fintech

cfteadmin — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 07:36:01 +0000

Extrapreneurship is a term that is still fairly new, but then again it is a relatively recent school of thought. The idea that an employee can spearhead new initiatives through experiential learning is one that is fast gaining traction. Many employees of big tech firms and financial institutions are now looking up further education modules such as entrepreneur classes, Fintech MBA programmes and similar types of learning platforms. Which brings us to the question – can you learn entrepreneurship? We believe so.

The framework known as experiential learning helps participants to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and a way of thinking that prioritises positive initiatives and discovery of new ways of operating. This is best demonstrated by the trend of many financial institutions and established multinational companies having dedicated innovation teams, in which an entire department is responsible for championing changes for the better.

With the fast-paced nature of Fintech today, it is important for companies to allow extrapreneurs in their midst the flexibility to make mistakes. The lessons and data learnt from these experiments help them to quickly adjust and pivot in order to make positive changes that will benefit their company in the long run. It is a key reason why many BigTech firms around the world have successfully managed to quickly establish a Fintech arm, with data being key to their efforts.

Furthermore, the practice of extrapreneurship within financial institutions will allow for easier collaboration with Fintech startups. It is a win-win situation as it mitigates the risk posed to them as there is no need to start up a new department. This also provides them the technology needed to modernise and serve their user base better, while helping startups to scale simultaneously.

The Fintech ecosystem needs extrapreneurs, or individuals that have an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive. Will you be the next one?

Join our CFTE Extrapreneurship Programme which has been created to respond to this need. The programme allows professionals to experience entrepreneurship by working on a strategic issue of high growth startups, with Revolut and Shift Technology being part of our previous programme. Applications are currently open.

Click here to read more of our leading new Extrapreneurship programme!

CFTE is the learning and innovation platform for individuals and organisations to act on the transformation of Finance. Learn how to get into Fintech, explore the exciting opportunities at Fintech startups, lead AI projects and develop your career.

CFTE develops leading online courses (Comparable to Harvard Fintech Course, Oxford Fintech programme and MIT Fintech certificate course), Experiential Learning Programmes such as Entrepreneur workshops and also animate a community of 1000 of alumni and experts.

Start with the foundations with our Fintech Foundations Programme and AI in Finance course.

Think and act like an Entrepreneur with our Extrapreneurship Programme.

Meet and get inspired at our Fintech ecosystem

Browse our Fintech Events Agenda.

About CFTE

We are a platform supported by senior leaders from the largest institutions, startups, and universities. We address the needs of professionals in finance to upskill in a rapidly changing industry being transformed by emerging technologies. More than 50,000 participants learn from our online courses, such as AI in Finance, Fintech Foundation or Extrapreneurship, a mini-MBA with fast-growing startups such as Revolut or Shift Technology.

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How Entrepreneurship Can Improve Your Fintech Prospects

cfteadmin — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 07:33:17 +0000

vThere has never been a better time to contribute to the Fintech ecosystem. The world of finance is rapidly changing, and it needs talented people that can think like an entrepreneur to bring about this change. As the finance industry is made up of traditional pillars and mindsets, it needs entrepreneurial individuals to spearhead changes and the inevitable shift towards digital finance.

Fintech MBA programs are also becoming more and more popular but the question on everyone’s mind is can you learn entrepreneurship? There are two camps split on this, but we firmly believe it is possible for entrepreneurship classes to bring out the businessperson in you.

Thinking like an entrepreneur

Firstly, entrepreneurs think differently to most people. Many entrepreneur classes might teach you to stay in your lane, but we think entrepreneurs should stay curious. This is especially useful in Fintech as it is a field that is rich in possibility, with many opportunities for a discerning businessman. Similarly, a narrow perspective may limit your vision, which means you could miss out on potentially life-changing openings.

Mastering your emotions

Another trait that we believe can be learnt is the ability to master your emotions. Entrepreneurs need to keep their emotions in check to be able to keep a clear mind and make wise decisions that are not influenced by feelings. In the fast-paced world of Fintech, it can be easy to get lost in all the new technology and breakthroughs. An entrepreneurial mindset will help you to filter out the excess and allow you to focus on what is truly important for your business.

Surrounding yourself with the right talent

No matter how great an entrepreneur is, he or she will need a talented team of professionals to help build and scale a business. In the world of Fintech, this is doubly important as it is key to expand quickly in order not to miss out on great opportunities. Identifying not just talented people, but key individuals that can help to build an empire, can be crucial to ensuring the survivability and longevity of any company. Attracting employees is all down to how a company is run – do it well, and top talent will be knocking on your doors to get in.

Click here to read more of our leading new Extrapreneurship programme!

Start with the foundations with our Fintech Foundations Programme and AI in Finance course.

Think and act like an Entrepreneur with our Extrapreneurship Programme.

Meet and get inspired at our Fintech ecosystem

Browse our Fintech Events Agenda.

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CFTE Launches Collaboration With Budapest Institute of Banking

cfteadmin — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 11:12:13 +0000

A packed house at Level39 in London joined us earlier this week, with our event marking a milestone agreement between CFTE and the Budapest Institute of Banking (BIB). The agreement between the two parties is in response to the keen Hungarian market that is eager for Fintech solutions.

At the top of the programme was the all-important signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BIB. CFTE’s co-founders Huy Nguyen Trieu and Tram Anh Nguyen, along with CFTE senior advisor, Tamas Haiman, were on stage to sign the agreement, alongside Gergely Fabian, the executive director of MNB (Central Bank of Hungary).

We are tremendously excited for this collaboration as it gives us a foothold in Hungary and Eastern Europe, while also achieving our aim of democratising Fintech education to all. BIB are fantastic partners for this as they are passionate about improving the quality of adult education and efficient knowledge transfer in the sector of finance. Furthermore, this partnership is in line with BIB’s goal of meeting market needs while also fulfilling the social responsibility objectives of the Central Bank of Hungary.

We also had the pleasure of hosting Eva Hegedus (CEO – Granit Bank), Aniko Szombati (Executive Director for Digitalisation and Fintech – Central Bank of Hungary), Janos Pereczes (MKB fintechlab), Stevan Bajic (Founder & CEO – Manigo), Péter Jendrolovics (Head of Retail Banking – Granit Bank), as well as Fabian at the CFTE Campus.

Szombati opened with a keynote speech highlighting the Hungarian appetite for Fintech, and how the country offers many advantages to companies in the industry, such as a favourable tax system, lower costs and easy cooperation with various institutions.

Following this was the first panel session moderated by our Head of Entrepreneurship, Janos Barberis, with Bajic and Pereczes joining Szombati onstage to discuss the Fintech opportunities in Eastern Europe, and the differences of such opportunities in Western Europe.

Hegedus then took to the stage to present her experience of running a digital bank in Hungary. A key point for their success is the increased internet penetration, leading to new initiatives such as video banking, mobile payments and more, which ultimately led to them winning more than 30 awards in the past year!

The next panel session involved Jendrolovics and Fabian, who were joined by Rupert Barksfield (Founder and COO – Pynk), to talk about the differing landscape of digital banks in Eastern Europe, moderated by CFTE co-founder Huy Nguyen Trieu.

We would also like to extend a special thank you to our speakers and visiting panellists for their engaging views and sharing throughout the event. No doubt this helped to make this special occasion a very successful one indeed.

It was a tremendous pleasure to host our wonderful guests at this event, and hope that the partnership between CFTE and BIB will bear much fruit in the coming months and years, not just in Hungary but in more parts of Eastern Europe!

Click here to read the full press release.

Start with the foundations with our Fintech Foundations Programme and AI in Finance course.

Think and act like an Entrepreneur with our Extrapreneurship Programme.

Meet and get inspired at our Fintech ecosystem

Browse our Fintech Events Agenda.

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Why Do Banks Need Entrepreneurs?

cfteadmin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 07:30:41 +0000

The digital transformation in finance is fast gathering pace, with the banking industry in serious risk of being left in the dust. Banks are quickly finding themselves losing business to FinTech companies as more and more people that did not have access to banking services previously start to come onboard. Similarly, the convenience offered by new entrants such as FinTech startups and Big Techs is often superior to the banking system, resulting in existing customers migrating over to their platforms. Here are some reasons why banks need entrepreneurs – employees with an entrepreneurial mindset – to keep up:

The right people

CFTE co-founder Huy Nguyen Trieu is a firm believer that banks must have “the right people” in place to cultivate and champion innovation efforts. If individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset are in charge, it is more likely that they will be looking at how to innovate. This is largely because many top-level executives in banks are from a generation used to standard procedures and processes, with many not being used to experiment. Which leads us to the next topic…

Open to change

At Money20/20 Asia, Akiko Taguchi of Lumenlab highlighted that banks could solve problems while learning simultaneously if they collaborated with startups. This requires a mindset change as startups are using to pivoting and moving on quickly in order to find a solution to problems, while banks are more risk averse. While it is not necessary to revamp processes and standard procedure completely, an openness to change is key if any innovation is going to occur within a bank.

Click here to read more about our takeaways from Money20/20 Asia.

Taking risks

This is probably the last thing you want your bank to do, but this is not a suggestion that rogue employees are needed! Most banks have never really incentivised employees to try to build new things or improve existing ones when the likelihood of success was not clear. However, with FinTech becoming more prominent, banks must be open to “risk” and embrace uncertainty. A “fail fast” culture will not only help to identify best practices quicker, but will lead banks away from tradition in order to avoid becoming stagnant and irrelevant.

To read more of our leading new Extrapreneurship programme, please click here!

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