Do Banks Need To Lose For FinTech To Win?
FinTech and Banking relationship is always pitched as a win or lose scenario for one of the parties. Some can only win when others lose, others seek to win by helping others succeed. One of these approaches is far more scalable. Build your strategy accordingly.
Also, in the last newsletter about 2017 predictions, I’ve missed a quality report by my friend Jim Marous — you can check it out here (it’s not free but if you work in fintech/research/banking it may be worth getting it for your business)
Thanks for reading; YOU are awesome!
Have a wonderful week,
Alex
Is Alternative Lending a Perishable FinTech Segment?
By Elena Mesropyan
Despite competitive propositions and momentary advantages that alternative lenders may have over incumbents, it is likely that banks will eventually drive this particular FinTech segment out of business. That moment, however, will come after a brief time of mutually beneficial collaborative work that we will witness in the years ahead. Though alternative lenders will get to see growth and prosperity in the short term, the long-term success of this segment is questionable. In fact, the more sophisticated data analytics, regulatory technology and risk management solutions developed by FinTech startups get, the less time is left for alternative lenders to leverage their often overhyped position.
International Competition is Stifling UK InsurTech
By Thomas McCourtie
Recent years have seen a growing relationship between insurers and technology, but many of the more significant developments are stemming from international markets. Mainland Europe, parts of Africa, and even the US are way ahead of the curve, but the UK remains somewhat under-represented. While embracing technology in the UK insurance industry continues to be a challenge, lack of originality and product development could see UK providers fall behind their competitors from other regions.
Parsing Lemonade PR To See If P2P Insurance Is Game Changer Or A Mirage
By Daily FinTech
A lot of the InsurTech innovation we see can be coopted by the incumbent carriers relatively easily. Knowing how to build a compelling digital user experience is not enough to create a moat and sustainable advantage. So a lot of people are looking at P2P insurance as the disruptive game changer. Ever since Lemonade did their $13m Series A funded by the hot hands of Sequoia Capital just over one year ago, there has been a lot of speculation about whether Lemonade will prove this model to be a game-changer or whether the whole thing is a mirage. Now that Lemonade is releasing some information, we take a look at what we can learn about the whole sector.
Volatility and Liquidity: How Bitcoin Compares to its Crypto Competitors
By Willy Woo
I started this study to double check my assumptions that bitcoin was well ahead of the pack in network effects. What the data showed was this was only partly true. Bitcoin’s lead in liquidity is not unassailable, monero could match it in a year, while dash and shadowcash could achieve it in just over two. However, all of bitcoin’s competitors tote features that bitcoin is lacking — faster confirmation times and private payments. Both of these features will most likely be coming to bitcoin as layer two protocols in 2017. If and when this happens, the battle for payments and general money will be fought solely on the playing field of economic network effects, that of liquidity and volatility.
Originally published at FinTech Summary.
