The FinTech Skills Gap: Identifying Skills Desired by Bank Employers and Skills Taught in Undergraduate Business/Accounting Programs in Ontario

This study examined the FinTech skills gap in Ontario with the goal of identifying opportunities for developing FinTech talent in undergraduate business/accounting programs offered at Ontario universities. A literature review revealed a global phenomenon of technology-related skills shortages in the finance industry from the perspective of employers. Although educators do incorporate technology and data analysis tools in the classroom, students are not perceived as being fully proficient in them (Boulianne, 2016; Pan & Seow, 2016; Rackliffe and Ragland, 2016; Sledgianowski, Hirsch, & Gomaa, 2016; Wymbs, 2016). The methodology used in this research involved using text analytics to look at FinTech job postings data from Indeed.com compared against undergraduate program data from the official academic calendars posted on the websites of 19 universities in Ontario. Results reveal with statistical significance that business/accounting educators have a weak level of agreement with bank employers on the hard skills that are most relevant in the industry

MIM Business Project: A model to support FinTech start-ups to bring value to Millennium’s customers

CEMSThis work project explains the context in which FinTechs have emerged as disruption in the banking sector. This called for Millenium BCP’s concerns on creating a strategy to deal with these new players, in order to increase value to their customers, which was the central purpose of the Business Project here presented. The proposed strategy and minimum readiness requirements are identified, derived from best practices and hypotheses testing. Finally, this paper includes an academic revision on the theory of disruptive innovation, with FinTech as an example, adding on how it should be managed in the banking sector

Future of the German Banking Sector

The German banking landscape is currently undergoing a paradigm shift of an unprecedented magnitude. As the financial world is changing, the future of German banks is highly uncertain. A multitude of present-day driving factors will shape the banking world of tomorrow. Therefore, this thesis aims to investigate and analyze the future of the German banking sector until 2030. The concept of scenario planning serves as underlying method for this research. Based on current factors influencing the German banking sector, the present thesis systematically develops coherent future scenarios. The generation of these scenarios is performed with the help of the scenario software INKA 4. This enables to assess a comprehensive picture of the future environment and the interactions between external influencing factors. Based on the most consistent future scenario, implications for the strategies of German banks are derived. As a result, German incumbents can question their strategic orientation and position themselves optimally for the future

Industrializing Swiss Private Banks: A Strategic Road Map

This paper analyzes the industrialization processes of Swiss private banks against the background of strategic approaches, future trends, and potential risks in this sector. Overall, industrialization is identified as the basis for the successful implementation of innovative and disruptive services and technology, and banks’ collaboration with (external) service providers is likely to play an increasingly important role with regard to such implementation. Strategic conclusions for Swiss private banks are captured in 10 distinct recommendations that each bank should consider when planning its industrialization strategy. Hereby, three principal themes are covered—namely, the strategic positioning of private banks with regard to bank size, business model, and other factors; optimized operations, which deals with the question of how to increase the efficiency of internal processes; and ways to reduce the obstacles that private banks face with regard to successful outsourcing. The underlying strategic requirements are a holistic approach to strategy and an ongoing improvement culture

Bank and Fintech competitive dynamics and the perceived value of partnerships in an open banking market environment

Abstract. This thesis discusses the relationship of banks and Fintech companies in the changing European financial markets. In order to answer this thesis’ research questions regarding bank and Fintech competitive advantages and the perceived value of collaboration, a closer look at the underlying market conditions is required. A literature review of previous research reveals that new regulation in the form of Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2) is being implemented to correct the poor competitive pressures and consequent lack of innovation in the European financial markets. The regulation aims to create more options for consumers and drive consumer benefit by opening the financial markets to new service providers. As a result, an increasing amount of Fintech companies enter the market space and create competitive pressures towards banks by providing superior customer experiences in specific niche service areas. This thesis provides a perspective on bank and Fintech relationship that goes beyond competition and discusses also the possible value of collaboration. This thesis is conducted as a qualitative case study and the data is collected via theme-based semi-structured interviews with three executive-level bank representatives and six Fintech executives. The interviewees from the bank have extensive experience working with PSD2 and open banking related initiatives and Fintech partnerships. The six Fintech case companies originate from Sweden, UK, USA, Canada and Singapore, and all of them have previous experience collaborating with banks. The key findings of this research conclude that bank and Fintech competitive advantages are complementary in nature. Banks are trusted actors in the market that benefit from an existing customer-base and established distribution channels, whereas Fintechs are fast, technologically capable, and have niche expertise in specific service areas. The complementarity of bank and Fintech competitive advantages creates opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration models and incentives for the creation of platform solutions, where greater customer value can be achieved. While open banking and platformization are deemed to have significant effects on incumbents, the results indicate that PSD2 alone is likely to have a smaller effect on banks than suggested by previous research, as the effects are restricted to payments. PSD2 is, however, seen as a catalyst for the larger change towards open banking and platformization. The findings of this thesis can be utilized by financial market stakeholders, primarily bank and Fintech executives, to position themselves strategically to the development of open banking and platformization. The results can also help bank and Fintech executives understand the core competences that are emphasized in an open banking market and furthermore, understand how to benefit from complementary competences via partnership. This thesis provides a clear managerial implication that bank and Fintech partnerships can unlock significant value for both parties