Disruption in Financial Services

For many people, disruption in Financial Services are new banks that are building the platform from the ground up. Not being tied to legacy systems, make those banks easier to operate.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of Monzo. Super fan of the notifications, their insights, and no fees when I go to my native Spain I pay with my coral card (Edit: I’m now even a proud user of their bank account)

And, yes, those new banks are going to make a dent on the big dinosaurs that are part most banks. Because they are going to take away the people that are more dynamic.

Big banks hope they will be able to buy the survivors. That may be the case.

However, there are two big issues.

The first one is already happening. It’s the unbundling of having my ISA with IG markets, my card being Monzo, sending my money away with Transferwise and seeing my bank transactions with Yolt. And only using HSBC to cash in the cheque from HMRC because it’s the only time I visit an office (and even that, through ATM)

And then the longer term issue. Back to the origin of banks. They knew people. They intermediated because they knew that Emma was trust worthy and Peter wasn’t. Know your customer.

And that means Amazon is already the biggest threat to banks right now.

Because in KYC, Amazon wins.