“We came here because we know how to innovate. We need to be digital-first. We need to work with startups. We want to know ‘how’?”
That quote is real. It was said during a roundtable four years ago. (when it was still OK to share bacon rolls and coffee with 25 strangers in a closed room in Central London.) But it is representative of an attitude that is common inside many traditional financial institutions.
The past decade many of us have spent time in innovation labs, accelerator programmes, had lessons in agile workflows, lean methodology and scrum techniques. We’ve attended more hackathons than we may have needed to and if we haven’t tried partnering with a new generation of FinTech companies, we’ve joined or founded startups of our own.
The experience in growing, scaling, and learning how technology and innovation can change our global financial services sector for the better has produced as many success stories as crushing defeats. While the failures may have been fast and the lessons hard – all have served to create a talent pool of experience and knowledge with access to a digital toolbox filled with APIs, marketplaces, cloud-based services, and an unbundled financial ecosystem delivered ‘as a service’.
All of these have brought us to the Age of the Digital Builder where all that experience, talent and knowledge come together to show us how to build better, digitally.
Today we launch FTT Digital Builder. Roll up your sleeves and break out your toolkit – because the age of the Digital Builder is now. Join FTT Digital Builder, an online event for those in financial services who create, engineer and build better.
Our special one-day event will feature:
Lessons learned
Strictly come FinTech dancing
The push to enable a traditional, incumbent bank to work with a digital-first FinTech entrant has been the stuff of many a keynote address and innovation workshop. Outside of the hype where are the real stories with lessons learned, mistakes to avoid and maturity achieved? Are FinTech companies and banks doomed to be chalk and cheese, or are they awkward parties in need of a better dance teacher?
Innovation hubs – What were they good for?
For almost the past decade no self-respecting global bank would have failed to allocate a portion of their innovation and digital budgets to the establishment of an innovation hub. Why were they developed? Who did they benefit? And how have they evolved in 2021?
The toolkit in action
No two banking apps are alike
Banking and financial products can now be delivered ‘as-a-service’ and embedded within core offerings from a wide range of companies from many sectors. Conversely, many banks are opening their platform to offer marketplaces that access to a wide range of applications from a single account. Whatever the customer journey – embedded finance or platform banking – personalisation is key. Customers and businesses want services that are tailored for them, and available when they need them in the most seamless way possible.
Does the quality of our toolkits and APIs meet the demand for these types of services?
But look at the sustainability!
When challenger banks and neobanks first burst on the scene the drive was to dominate market share and achieve rocket ship growth - often at the expense of profitability, regulatory concerns and even employee culture. A new generation of FinTech startups is emerging – one that is focused on sustainability, and an empowered workforce as well as making money.
Could this be the most disruptive trend of all?
Using the right tools for the right jobs.
Digital Builders need modern tools to create a modern world. How can you use sandboxes to try, fail, pivot and experiment? When do you use open APIs for control over product development and webhooks for real-time trigger events? What does constant optimisation and personalisation with data and analytics look like?
Getting your house in order
To greenfield or not to greenfield?
Many traditional financial services firms have realised that the vast amount of legacy technology, infrastructure and even culture make it near impossible to develop new innovative digital products and companies. The answer for many is to create a startup, in house – maintaining access to capital and resources but effectively developed as a separate entity.
Have attempts by financial institutions been an exercise in FinTech innovation or are they guilty of being vainglorious?
Techies are from Mars – Business is from Venus
Business provides. Technology enables. To make that process work seamlessly those two groups need to work together. But they are often dealing with very different cultures, metrics and even language. What are the frameworks to building a successful bridge between the two vital departments? Who are your firm’s diplomats, translators and even hostage negotiators?
What are you waiting for? Register for your free ticket now. (Bring your toolkits!)
