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The Bottom Line

In case you missed it, June 2018 saw another consortium enter the already crowded payments fray. As its name implies, the Secure Payments Partnership’s primary focus is “to address the ongoing battle against payment fraud and to devise improvements for the U.S. card payment system.” To understand the impact of this announcement, the history and context below must be considered. 

It’s no longer a question of “if”, but rather how and when. For an increasing number of consumers, the primary means of interacting with their financial institution is the mobile banking app that lives on their smartphone, not the physical branch. And this segment of the population will only continue to expand. Younger tech-savvy generations will continue to age into the need for banking services while, at the same time, other demographics gain more comfort with digital channels.

Ever had the experience of money coming into your life that you had not counted on from a source you did not anticipate? Some call it “found money” and others might describe it as a windfall. Whatever word is used to describe it, there is one question that always arises after such good fortune happens to someone: What should be done with the money? A shopping spree? Deposit it to savings? Maybe give it to a less fortunate person or a charity that is active in the community?

As many of you are aware, last August marked 25 years that SRM has been providing clients with vendor services. During that quarter of a century, our firm has delivered cost savings and revenue enhancements that represent billions of dollars in value to the banks and credit unions we serve. This year alone our work for these institutions will uncover approximately $70 million in “found money.”

Though I was not yet a member of the SRM team when that 25^th anniversary was celebrated, my decision to join the firm was influenced by the reputation SRM has built over those two and a half decades operating in the U.S. My responsibility is to extend the value of our reputation and brand to the clients we now serve to Europe.     

Last week, we presented the first half of two key considerations for how a bank or credit union committed to a mobile first strategy can best stay current in offering state-of-the-art mobile services.

If an institution is not counted among the largest of FIs, answering this question will likely involve evaluating an array of options to determine which best fits a bank or credit union’s goal. This environment is different from what has been seen in the past where a few very large providers controlled most of the offerings. This gives FIs of every size the chance to shake free of the constraints of legacy third-party solutions and become competitive again.

Let’s delve a bit deeper into what that exactly means.

Reality Check

The future of banking is digital. Period. Hopefully we’ve progressed to a point in financial services where this statement is accepted wisdom and no longer needs to be debated.  There are reams of data that support this and nothing about the future as it is unfolding now suggests otherwise.

Another given is that all digital engagement strategies should now be “mobile first.”  From the looks of some mobile banking apps deployed today, this has not yet reached the level of accepted wisdom in our industry.

You may have read about a recent development in the ongoing online commerce wars. Visa and MasterCard announced plans to launch a shared pay button for online purchases, replacing their existing Visa Checkout and MasterCard Masterpass payment buttons. American Express also signaled its willingness to join the effort. The resulting changes could become visible on ecommerce websites as early as the 2018 holiday shopping season.

If you work at a bank or credit union and are the worrying type, there is no shortage of things to occupy your mind. However, it’s not what you know that should make you worry. Most often it is what we don’t know that creates more challenges.

For example, there’s a decent chance that for most financial institutions (FIs), vendor contracts are not the source of concern they should be, especially if the supplier is a company you feel does a good job for your institution. Given the numerous issues that must be addressed in the course of business at a bank or credit union, the axiom “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” often serves as a default. This may make it easy to rationalize letting contracts automatically renew with incumbents who are providing satisfactory levels of service.

The reinvention of financial services has been underway for decades. Some may argue it’s been overhyped, but clearly most Americans bank in different ways than they did 20 years ago. This may be a case study of the Bill Gates adage, that humans overestimate the potential for near-term change but underestimate it in the long run.

(Hint: It’s Not Just About Price)

Obviously, every financial institution (FI) wants to get the best possible deal from their service providers. The definition of “best” can vary markedly by FI, however. We’ve found that before entering the vendor contract negotiation process, a cross-functional team is well advised to invest the time to determine what it most wants from the relationship.