Banks – the big buildings around town where all our monies are kept.
This is what most people think when they imagine banks, even today. But unless you’ve been living in the 16th century all these years, you would have come to the realisation that modern banking goes way beyond safe-keeping money or big buildings for that matter.
Sure, the medieval banking system started as the safe-keeper of people’s gold, issuing banknotes in exchange for gold deposits. Today, banking services cut across money deposits and safe-keeping to include lending, bill payments, project financing, investment banking, local and international money transfers, foreign exchange services, cross-border/borderless banking, and much more.
Traditional banks have dominated the world of finance since the 20th century, spreading tentacles into different sectors and aiding economic growth. However, the rise of Fintech within the last decade has caused major disruptions in finance and commerce. Challenger banks or fintech are stepping into the gigantic financial market once controlled by commercial banks.
With advanced technology, banking convenience, and usually personalized customer experience, fintech startups are stealing more customers away from their traditional competitors with the pace of things currently, the incumbent banking business model as we know it would be disrupted by fintech and Big Tech. Your goal as a money business should be to take advantage of the opportunities brought about by the cannibalisation of banking services.
Today, people have more ways than ever to use, store, and move money. And since banking experience is no longer solely reliant on traditional banks, money businesses of all sizes are seizing the opportunities created by the limitations of traditional banks.
Today, any business whatsoever can leverage existing banking technologies to offer different banking services to customers – from basic online banking to more specialized services.n nBelow are examples of these businesses:
Electronic Money Institutions
Electronic Money Institutions or simply EMIs sprang up as a result of e-money service demands. EMIs are companies licensed to issue e-money and provide electronic financial services to third parties. E-money institutions are usually licensed under a Financial Act regulating some or all aspects of banking in their countries of operations. Services provided by EMIs include account opening, maintaining segregated accounts, debit cards for customers, money transfers, foreign exchange services, etc.
EMIs operate at speeds and agility which most traditional banks cannot match. While cash, cards, and wire transfers are the common payment options provided by your local bank, EMIs provide customers with several ways to move money. They rely on smart technologies to offer services at relatively better speeds.
Since most EMIs are smaller than banks and operate entirely online, they require fewer processes to approve a loan or grant access to other services.
Start your own Electronic Money Institution
Technology has ripped open the banking industry, offering opportunities that never existed before to businesses like yours. Whether you operate an EMI, a large financial service firm, a specialized bank, or a simple business that deals with client money, you don’t need to be a bank to offer banking services to your customers.
With Spotbanc, any business, irrespective of size, can harness these banking opportunities.
Spotbanc is a flexible online banking platform designed with state-of-the-art technologies to enable businesses to offer totally online and specialized banking services with absolute ease. Embedded with both customer experience and administrative features, Spotbanc ensures that your clients enjoy an unmatched online banking experience while you operate and grow your business with total control.
Spotbanc’s agile and robust white-label architecture allows for easy customization that reflects your brand. It also makes it possible for you to integrate with third-party systems. This is the leverage you need to be a bank without actually running a traditional bank.
Follow this link to Get started with Spotbanc. You can also call +44 (0)20 8720 7109 for inquiries.