Finland’s card-as-a-service (CaaS) platform Enfuce, which recently finalized a €45 million Series C round, notes that client expectations and competition in the banking sector are “getting tougher all the time.”
Denise Johansson, Co-Founder, Chief Commercial Officer & Deputy CEO at Enfuce, writes in a blog post that traditional banks might find themselves to be “struggling with these developments.”
Serving a large client base may seem daunting, Denise added while noting that trying to meet increasing customer expectations and compliance requirements, and launching new digital products and features “is not an easy task.”
Denise added that established players may “sustain and even increase their fair share of the digital payments market.” She believes that we are “set for the next generation of payments, and it’ll bring major benefits to issuers, processors, as well as end-users.”
According to Denise, the payments business is “changing and becoming more and more competitive.”
Booming digital commerce, the trend favoring cashless payment, and new consumer behaviors “are all driving growth for digital payments.” Denise also noted that “keeping up with these developments has posed challenges for traditional banks.”
She explained that newcomers like fintechs and other emerging players “have entered the payments market.” Denise also noted that established issuers may “miss out on the growth of new cashless payments and changing consumer behavior.”
As a result, they “risk losing some of their market share to the emerging players.” Denise further noted that the challengers have also “pushed the issuing industry to launch new digital payment products, services, and features.”
She recalls:
“Back in the day, it was quite common for many generations of a family to be customers of a single bank. Today, Millennials and Gen Z don’t always have a lifelong customer relationship in mind when they first become a bank’s customer. Instead, they are looking for advanced digital services.”
She continued:
“Fintechs are leading the way, providing an exceptional customer experience with new service innovations. They’re challenging the rest of the industry with their API-driven platforms. This way, they not only meet the customer requirements but also create completely new ones.”
According to Denise’s observations, it is “not only fintechs who benefit from this development. Established issuers can also defend their slice of the digital payments cake.”
She further noted that established issuers can “claim their share of the growth, and take on challengers like neobanks and Paytech companies.” But that requires “boldly investing for the long term and making fundamental changes to one’s processing architecture,” Denise claims.
She further revealed that many of them at Enfuce “come from a banking background and have vast experience in working with banks.” They reportedly “understand the pain of established players with the changing competitive landscape.” Because of their strong experience, they “can help you overcome these challenges.”
She added:
“Modernizing your card processing system is one way to respond to the increasing competition and higher customer expectations. A cloud-based architecture supports scalable business models and adapts to changing needs.”
She also noted that a modern processing system “grants you access to customer analytics.”
With these insights, you can “create personalized offerings for your customers,” Denise explained while adding that this “allows you to gain relevance in niche customer segments, like SMEs or certain age groups.”
As a result, you can “deliver better payment services that satisfy underserved segments. Another benefit is boosting loyalty among existing ones.” She added that “launching more relevant products and features also helps build a strong business case for a bigger processing system renewal, better suited to a mobile-first world.”
Denise further noted that “launching new card products is a proven way to boost retention and onboard new customers.” It provides “important touchpoints for your customers and helps grow engagement among end-users.”
Denise added:
“Modern platforms enable you to launch digital payments products quickly and cost-effectively. It only takes weeks, not months. With a modular architecture, you can offer compatibility to relevant products. This helps pave the way for better payment innovation and larger volumes.”
She further explained:
“You can achieve this by working with a payment service provider born out of the cloud, like Enfuce. With our platform, you can launch feature-rich payment cards in just eight weeks – much faster than any established issuer could on their own!”
For more details on this update from Enfuce, check here.