FinTech: Epicenter of Disruption (Part 3)

Traditional insurers believe that 21% of their revenue is at risk to InsurTech start-ups within five years.

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This is the third in a four-part series. The first article is here. The second is here. Typically, disruption hits a tipping point at which just less than 50% of the incumbent revenue is lost in about a five-year timeframe. Recent disruptions that provide valuable insight include streaming video’s impact on the video rental market. When broadband in the home reached ubiquity and video compression technology matured, low-cost streaming devices were developed and, within four years, the video rental business was completely transformed. The same pattern can be seen in the Internet-direct insurance model for car insurance. At present, 50% of the revenue from the traditional agent-based distribution model has been moved to direct insurance providers. Revenue at risk will exceed 20% by 2020 According to our survey, the vast majority (83%) of respondents from traditional financial institutions (FIs) believe that part of their business is at risk of being lost to standalone FinTech companies; that figure reaches 95% in the case of banks. In addition, incumbents believe 23% of their business could be at risk because of the further development of FinTech, though FinTech companies anticipate they may be able to acquire 33% of the incumbents’ business. In this regard, the banking and payments industries are feeling more pressure from FinTech companies. Fund transfer and payments industry respondents believe they could lose as much as 28% of their market share, while bankers estimate that banks are likely to lose 24%. Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 2.28.21 PM A rebalancing of power FinTech companies are not just bringing concrete solutions to a morphing consumer base, they are also empowering customers by providing new services that can be delivered with the use of technological applications. The rise of “digital finance” allows consumers to connect to information anywhere at any time, and digital services can address their needs in a more convenient way than traditional nine-to-five financial advisers can. According to our survey, two-thirds (67%) of the companies ranked pressure on margins as the top FinTech-related threat. One of the key ways FinTechs support the margin pressure point through innovation is step function improvements in operating costs. For instance, the movement to cloud-based platforms not only decreases up-front costs but also reduces continuing infrastructure costs. This may stem from two main scenarios. First, standalone FinTech companies might snatch business opportunities from incumbents, such as when business-to-consumer (B2C) FinTech companies sell their products and services directly to customers and position themselves as more dynamic and agile alternatives to traditional players. Secondly, business-to-business (B2B) FinTech companies might empower specific incumbents through strategic partnerships with the intent to provide better services. Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 2.33.19 PM FinTech, a source of opportunities FinTech also offers myriad possibilities for the financial services (FS) industry. B2B FinTech companies create real opportunities for incumbents to improve their traditional offerings. For example, white label robo-advisers can improve the customer experience of an independent financial adviser by providing software that helps clients better navigate the investment world. In the insurance industry, a telematics technology provider can help insurers track risks and driving habits and can provide additional services such as pay-as-you-go solutions. Partnerships with FinTech companies could increase the efficiency of incumbent businesses. Indeed, a large majority of respondents (73%) rated cost reduction as the main opportunity related to the rise of FinTech. In this regard, incumbents could simplify and rationalize their core processes, services and products and, consequently, reduce inefficiencies in their operations. But FinTech is not just about cutting costs. Incumbents partnering with FinTech companies could deliver a differentiated offering, improve customer retention and bring in additional revenues. In this regard, 74% of fund transfer and payment institutions consider additional revenues to be an opportunity coming from FinTech. This is already true in the payments industry, where FinTech generates additional revenues through faster and easier payments and digital wallet transactions. Screen Shot 2016-04-08 at 2.33.19 PM This post was co-written by: John Shipman, Dean Nicolacakis, Manoj Kashyap and Steve Davies.

Haskell Garfinkel

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Haskell Garfinkel

Haskell Garfinkel is the co-leader of PwC's FinTech practice. He focuses on assisting the world's largest financial institutions consume technological innovation and advising global technology companies on building customer centric financial services solutions.

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Jamie Yoder

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Jamie Yoder

Jamie Yoder is president and general manager, North America, for Sapiens.

Previously, he was president of Snapsheet, Before Snapsheet, he led the insurance advisory practice at PwC. 

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