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The Bottom Line

Ideally, a good business partnership should result in a “win/win” for all parties involved. Vendor relationships are no exception. No vendor will last long if their approach is predatory toward their clients. 

In my last post, I recounted the extent to which the iPhone transformed the very notion of mobile banking. Let’s now shift the focus to catalysts for the next wave of banking innovation.

While the iPhone’s quantum leap occurred in 2007, its full impact on financial services didn’t emerge overnight because it took developers some time to leverage the opportunities this new platform enabled, and then another chunk of time for many financial institutions (FIs) and mass market consumers to embrace those capabilities. These phases were essential to making the smartphone the indispensable tool for navigating modern life, and they would be and will be repeated on rare occasions. 

Just the phrase, “The Durbin Amendment” is enough to drive some less reserved bankers to punch a wall, scream out a window, or initiate whatever coping mechanism helps them most effectively blow off steam. While the mere mention of this law, at a minimum, elevates the blood pressure of those responsible for managing banks and credit unions, these executives recognize that the sensible approach to Durbin is to find ways to thrive within its constraints.

As you certainly must know – unless you are returning from a long, wireless sabbatical spent in a cloister of monks sworn to silence, the iPhone recently celebrated a “big” birthday.  The device that changed most everything about banking, shopping, driving and more is 10 years old.