The digitalization of the financial services industry offers agile organizations one of the the greatest opportunities in history. Not only does it fundamentally change customer behavior, but in particular it changes the nature of the provision of services as well as the competitive environment. At additiv, we devote ourselves exclusively to the digital future of the financial services industry. In our development of technological and consulting services, we produce answers to the following three digital hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1: Customer behavior will change fundamentally in the future - and hence the interaction between the client and the bank
New digital devices such as smartphones and tablets have accelerated the internet revolution. Today, people manage their personal and professional lives flexibly and efficiently anytime and anywhere. It goes without saying that bank customers also want to manage their finances in the same manner.
Digital services also allow a much greater independence regarding how we do it. Therefore, the segment of the so-called „ self directed“ population is growing strong. The central question for additiv is therefore: How can financial service providers continue to build strong relationships and work together with their customers in the future?
Hypothesis 2: Digitalization dramatically reduces the marginal costs of the financial industry - the first signs are the pressure on margins
The economic added value of the financial industry is threateningly low – often not even the cost of equity will be generated. As is generally known, this has to do with the additional regulatory costs as well as the interest rate environment. Digitalization has an influence as well. When goods, services and distribution are highly automated, the marginal costs sink dramatically.
Other industries such as transportation, energy and media faced the same challenges in the past. Market development in the face of falling marginal costs is therefore well known: first price erosion, then a wave of innovation, market entry by new suppliers and increased competition, a redistribution of market shares and finally a phase of consolidation. We at additiv therefore ask ourselves: How can we create innovation, increased sales efficiency and automated service provision that will achieve sustainable strategic advantage for our customers?
Hypothesis 3: New future opportunities are opening up for agile providers - but also competitive pressure and consolidation
The changing environment is faster than the reaction time of financial service providers. For such it is due to channel conflicts that it is generally not easy to find the right answers for the digital transformation.
Additionally, the methodology in the areas of change management and project implementation is traditionally not agile. Also, a contemporary front architecture is complicated by existing system architectures. For this reason, additiv has focused on a complementary expansion of existing systems when developing DFS. With the rapid prototyping approach, we have found a methodological answer for agile innovative development for our customers.
