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In a recent blog post, we outlined the lessons learned in the year since the UK’s Open Banking regulation took effect. The Open Banking concept is hardly confined to Great Britain, however. Countries as geographically and culturally diverse as Singapore, Australia, Holland and Canada have also embarked on similar endeavours to alter the dynamics of their financial services sectors – thus also altering other interconnected sectors.

Although it’s difficult to envision a similar top-down mandate in the United States, there is growing evidence that many of Open Banking’s features will become part of the American landscape through other means. Yet, depending on where you look, commentators cannot agree on the impact of Open Banking’s introduction in the U.S., whether it be success, failure, positive or negative.

One of the most closely watched contests in consumer banking is the battle for P2P supremacy between Zelle and Venmo. Zelle is touted as the bank-friendly alternative, owing to its status as an offering of Early Warning, itself owned by a consortium of the largest U.S. banks. Zelle has reported eye-popping growth figures, stemming from the embrace by its market-leading owner banks and surpassing Venmo volumes by most measures.

Venmo, on the other hand, remains the app of choice for the coveted Millennial and Generation Z cohorts. Zelle has yet to attain the “verb” status of its rival (“I’ll Venmo you…”), which has managed to hold onto its cachet as few consumers realize Venmo is now owned by the not-as-cool-as-it-once-was PayPal.

In case you haven’t heard, the digital channel is essential to your financial institution’s future success and perhaps to its very survival. While this point is broadly accepted in concept, an alarming number of banks and credit unions have yet to take concrete steps toward aligning their omnichannel model with customer trends.

In many cases, this inaction is a product of fear. Digital transformation is a daunting undertaking and it can be hard to know where to begin, especially with other priorities competing for bandwidth. As is the case with fitness programs, however, the most important starting point is often to simply begin moving.