Fintech: banks harness the potential of open banking
Banks collaborate closely with fintechs in order to offer their clients innovative services. The "Finanz und Wirtschaft" fintech conference explored the practical potential of open banking and where Credit Suisse is headed in this regard.
Digital transformation has been sweeping through the economy and the financial sector at breakneck speed. After the initial euphoria about fintech, open banking, and blockchain, it is time for an interim assessment: To what extent have these trends and technologies displayed their disruptive potential so far? What future opportunities exist for increased cooperation with fintechs? At this year's "Finanz und Wirtschaft" Fintech Forum, Anke Bridge Haux, Head of Digitalization & Products, and Didier Denat, Head of Corporate & Investment Banking explained how Credit Suisse is beginning its own digital transformation.
Fintech and banking - a collaboration with potential
"Open banking is a reality at Credit Suisse. We are convinced that digital ecosystems are relevant and important to our clients," says Anke Bridge Haux. "These services should always be available to our clients when they actually need them."
One concrete example of open banking is the recently announced collaboration between Credit Suisse and the Swiss software provider KLARA. Credit Suisse and KLARA are simplifying finance for SMEs. In addition to an innovative accounting solution that automatically communicates with all interfaces, starting now, SMEs on KLARA can submit non-binding credit requests to Credit Suisse online. The intuitive KLARA process pulls the relevant information from bookkeeping and automatically fills out the form fields. Within a few seconds, Credit Suisse notifies the SME of how much credit it can receive at what interest rate.
When it comes to open banking, we want to aggregate, not be aggregated.
Didier Denat, Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
Investments in fintechs – a commitment to the Swiss workplace
As a leading bank for entrepreneurs, Credit Suisse places great value on strengthening and promoting the Swiss economic center and entrepreneurship in Switzerland through a wide range of measures. Credit Suisse Entrepreneur Capital Ltd. which was founded in 2010, is just one example. It provides SMEs and young entrepreneurs with capital totaling around CHF 200 million. A significant portion of that should be invested in fintechs.
To some extent, these companies operate in a similar area as Credit Suisse itself or they offer solutions for its value chain. Being actively involved in the world of young financial firms represents an opportunity for Credit Suisse, as it may be able to harness the innovations of fintechs for itself or its clients.
Using data – identifying client needs
Client needs and expectations are changing constantly. At the same time, digitalization is increasing the rate at which technical innovations are being developed. Credit Suisse sees a great deal of potential in client data. Because there is a lot of knowledge in client data, Credit Suisse wants to increase the utilization of client data in the future and thus meet changing client needs.
"If we use our data to its full potential, we can help clients to identify their needs sooner," says Anke Bridge Haux. Data analysis in investment banking could "show the client precisely the research information and products that meet their needs," gives Didier Denat as an example.
