Three Steps (and One BFF) for a Perfect Bank-Fintech Match

Image courtesy of pixel2013 via Pixabay.com.

For many financial institutions today, going digital has the potential to unlock new market segments, streamline operations, cut risks and greatly improve customer relations. But for institutions considering this proposition, size matters.

Larger institutions tend to have the resources to source and apply new financial technology (fintech) or, if those resources are not available in-house, to enlist partners that can help them improve internal processes and deliver innovative offerings. Several large financial institutions in emerging markets — including BBVA, Diamond Trust Bank, ICICI and Stanbic Bank, to name a few — have been sponsoring incubators and partnering with fintech startups, often with a view to acquiring or “acqui-hiring” them to develop new capacities. A recent study by CFI-IIF points to the numerous benefits of fintech/bank partnerships, and another PwC study estimates that over 80 percent of the world’s financial services firms are expecting to increase fintech partnerships in the next three to five years.

Continue reading

Designing for Data: Creating a User-Friendly Dashboard to Analyze Product Profitability

Most financial institutions recognize that data should lie at the heart of strategic decision-making. With technology playing an increasingly central role in every aspect of business operations, data can make a business more agile, more client-centric, and ultimately, more profitable.

However, the use of advanced data analysis tools is still relatively new and many institutions are finding their way.  This prevents them from making well-informed, strategic decisions, often at a high cost to themselves and their clients. But how can an institution create an environment in which data-driven decision-making becomes the norm rather than the exception?  To start with, institutions must craft data analysis tools that meet the needs and preferences of the users within the business to ensure that they are relevant and actually utilized.

Continue reading

‘Stealthy’ Saving: Building on Payroll Credit to Automate Savings

Basic savings accounts are essential to helping people build assets, and they’re often the first step in building a relationship with customers.

This is something Acreimex—a savings & credit cooperative in Oaxaca, Mexico, serving over 120,000 members (as the cooperative refers to its customers) across eight states through its network of 45 branches—understands very well.  Although they are a savings-based institution, some of their customers find it difficult to save. The cooperative has worked with BFA since 2016 to improve the profitability, relevance and accessibility of its product portfolio – and part of these efforts have focused on finding a way to introduce savings to its existing payroll loan customers.

Acreimex’s payroll credit product, Acreinómina (nómina means payroll in Spanish), is offered to employees in over 400 public and private institutions, and is currently the cooperative’s most profitable loan product. These same customers, however, tend to lack awareness of Ahorramás y Más (A++), the cooperative’s flagship savings product which all customers have, but not all use. To increase use of A++ accounts by Acreinómina customers, Acreimex and BFA built on the success of this specific loan product, automating savings alongside the payroll credit payments to drive uptake and usage.

Continue Reading.