Are Google and Amazon a Competitive Threat to Banks?
Millennials in the United States may end up doing their banking with Amazon, Google, Facebook or Apple when given the opportunity. In a recent study by Accenture over 34,000 generation Y adults/millennials (aged 22 to 34) were asked if they’d bank, buy insurance and get investment advice from these tech companies.
The report “Financial Providers: Transforming Distribution Models for the Evolving Consumer” identifies five key trends that consumers want the financial services sector to deliver.
OSC Announces Fintech Advisory Committee (FAC) Members
On January 26, 2017 the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced the members of their new Fintech Advisory Committee (FAC). The committee members will serve a one year term, and will be chaired by Pat Chaukos, Chief of OSC Launchpad. OSC Launchpad provides direct support to Fintech companies helping them to navigate Canada’s regulatory environment.
In November, the OSC and Launchpad held a RegTech Hackathon bringing together key stakeholders in the finance, fintech and regtech space; the goal being to discuss and develop more efficient regtech solutions for the financial services industry.
Payments Great with Trump?
President Donald Trump has promised to reduce regulations and this post by Adam Atlas [LinkedIn | Twitter] provides some key areas to consider as the administration settles in.
According to Atlas the administration may target the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau who has increased regulations in lending, banking and money transmissions. He suggests that Fintech regulations may be fast tracked, that a national MSB regime may become a reality, and a way that Mexico could pay for “the wall”.
Atlas suggests that Canada’s payment businesses’ success stories could be seen as an exemplary regulatory example to follow. Finally, if parts of Dodd-Frank are rolled back, it could have implications for lending, cash advances and consumer credit. Read the full article here.
From Trump to technology: Canadian bank CEOs weigh in on what’s to come
CEOs from Canada’s top banks provided their thoughts on the economy, the Trump administration, and innovation in this CBC news article. From an innovation perspective most executives concede that payment processing is being disrupted, and that younger Canadians prefer to bank online. They’re also looking for value added services such as robo-advisors, and digital ways to borrow from and make payments to friends from their smartphones. Artificial intelligence is being used for stock trading, and there are plans to roll it out for customer service. The expectation is that digital channels will become increasingly important, and in some cases the primary service channel for banks. In part, this is leading banks to re-think how many physical branches they will need in the future, and the role they will play in delivering value to customers.