By Claire Simpson, Senior Communications Consultant at Hard Numbers
Last week, the Hard Numbers team headed to Amsterdam for Mambu Next – the fintech unicorn’s flagship conference – for a day of learning, sharing and, most importantly, coming together after a challenging two years for the industry amid the pandemic.
Mambu is the leading provider of cloud banking technology globally, helping financial and non-financial businesses to stay ahead of the curve and build modern financial experiences that meet evolving customer demands.
The event was a timely reminder that the fintech community is as vibrant as ever, shining a light on those who are shaping the future of financial services – from innovative new entrants to incumbent players committed to doing things differently.
With talks from a host of Mambu experts, partners and customers, here’s eight things we learned from the event:
1. Cloud isn’t just a platform, it’s a mindset
Kicking off proceedings, Mambu CEO Eugene Danilkis set the scene by reminding people that core banking transformation is about more than just a shiny new tech stack. It’s about moving to a fundamentally different operating model and business mindset that enables organisations to move faster, more efficiently and with greater agility.
2. Legacy is still holding banks back
Despite increasing market pressure for banks to operate more flexibly, traditional players are still struggling to shake off the shackles of legacy systems, according to Sjors van der Zee, Partner at Bain & Company. He revealed that 70% of a typical incumbent’s IT budget is spent on maintaining legacy infrastructure rather than where they want to be spending it – on customers.
3. Cloud banking > banking from the cloud
Exploring the latest possibilities of cloud technology, Mambu’s Chief Technology and Product Officer, Fernando Zandona, made a subtle but important distinction between banking services from a cloud platform and cloud banking services. While the former is characterised by ‘versioning’ – with products and extensions being rolled out in rigid stages – the latter allows for incremental improvements to be made by vendors ‘underneath’ the user interface, while customers continue using the ‘top’ for a seamless user experience.
4. We need to tackle transformation fatigue
Speaking on the challenges of digital transformation, Carrie Forbes, CEO of League Data – which provides financial technology solutions to over 40 credit unions – recited a colourful analogy. “I think I read somewhere that people would prefer to go to the dentist than do another training on technology.” Forbes encourages organisations to think ahead about how to bring both customers and internal teams on this journey, with a focus on communicating the end vision “while [you’re] still going through the root canal”.
5. Customer first, technology second
While ‘customer-obsession’ is all the rage in technology circles, too often organisations look at transformation projects from an IT and architecture point of view – before asking the business what it wants. John Lyons, Digital Banking and Transformation Lead at PwC, explained that this is fundamentally the wrong approach. Instead, he advises such projects be customer and colleague-led and based on what businesses want to achieve in the market – rather than getting too bogged down in the tech.
6. Challengers are chasing new audiences
In a lively panel discussion on what it’s like to build a modern digital bank, Tanya Andreasyan (Fintech Futures), Nika Kurdiani (TBC Bank’s Space International) and Harald Schaschinger (Raiffeisen Digital Bank) explored the merits of audience segmentation in the crowded challenger market. Andreasyan pointed to a new wave of neobanks enjoying success from focusing on specific customer groups, while Kurdiani spoke of product segmentation as another way for challengers to individualise their offering amid rising competition.
7. Carrots are out, and sticks are in on sustainability
Turning to the ESG roadmap for financial services, Mambu’s Director of Sustainability, Anna Krotova, explained that ‘carrots are out, and sticks are in’. She pointed to a wave of legislation passed by financial regulators, which will require capital markets to disclose meaningful climate and environmental information by 2024, or earlier. She also cited consumer data from Mambu which revealed 67% of global consumers would like their bank to become more sustainable in the future.
8. Fintech for good
In the closing talk of the day, Edith Nyaga and Simon de la Rey from Platcorp Holdings Ltd shared a timely reminder of the social impact of fintech – in promoting financial inclusion and improving access to financial services for underserved communities. Through its work providing credit to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Nyaga observed, “We’re not just building tech. Real people are using this and it’s making a difference to their lives’.
To learn more about Mambu and for further insights on financial technology, visit their insights page.
