Why Standard Bank is betting big on the ‘platform economy’

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Banks are facing more competition today than ever, and much of that competition is coming from left field – from non-traditional competitors such as mobile operators and technology giants.
The implications, says Standard Bank Group, are dire for financial services institutions that are unwilling to adapt their strategies to compete effectively in what it calls “the platform economy”.
The banking group recently published a new research paper, called “The Power of the Platform Economy for Financial Services”, which unpacks the risks and opportunities in detail.
One of the authors at the research paper, Standard Bank executive: platform business lead for wholesale clients (digital) Jonathan Lamb, joined the TechCentral podcast to unpack what all this means for “legacy” banks in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets across Africa.
Where is the threat to banks coming from? Will mobile operators, with mobile money services, or social media companies like Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, prove to be the bigger competitive threat down the line? And how can banks respond?
Lamb believes banks are in a strong position to counter the competitive threats, but they cannot rest on their laurels.
How do they deal with their legacy IT infrastructure (many are still running mainframes at their core), and is the fact that they are heavily regulated an advantage or a disadvantage in the fight to come?
Don’t miss this fascinating discussion on the future of an industry in flux.
30 Sep 2021 English South Africa Technology · Business

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