In the News
Capgemini: Fintech Sector on Verge of Collaboration Phase

• Robert O'Connor
• July 2019
• 

The financial services sector is headed into a new stage of innovation that will demand high levels of collaboration and specialization among organizations, according to the 2019 World FinTech Report published by Capgemini.

The success of this “Open X” phase, the report said, will depend on the ability of banks and financial services institutions “to plan accordingly and evolve their business models.”

These adjustments must come, the report said, as financial technology organizations are trying to bring scale to their operations at a time when banks are “stalling on fintech collaboration.” This impasse, the report suggested, will bring a demand for a “leapfrog” over open banking into Open X, which the report described as “a more effective, structured form of collaboration.” This approach will be smoothed by the creation of efficient links between platforms, the sharing of information, and the particular abilities that participating organizations bring. The creation of an Open X environment will require banks to develop their specialized skills.

“The era of Open X will create an integrated marketplace, with specialized roles for each player that will enable a seamless exchange of data and services, improving customer experience, and expediting product innovation,” the report said. The report was written in cooperation with Efma, the Paris-based global nonprofit banking and insurance organization.

Anirban Bose, chief executive officer of Paris-based Capgemini's Financial Services, said the financial services industry must now look beyond open banking. “The industry is on the verge of a more comprehensive evolution, where there is opportunity to leapfrog into an integrated marketplace that we are calling Open X,” Bose said in a statement. “In Open X, there will be seamless sharing of data, and ecosystem partners will be able to collaborate in a far more comprehensive way. Our research suggests that banks and fintechs need to prepare themselves for a more radical change than many previously anticipated.”

Capgemini and Efma said the move into Open X will depend on four changes: a shift from a concentration on products and toward an appreciation of “customer experience;” an increased emphasis on data; a move from ownership to “shared access,” and a focus on partnerships and innovation.