We found subtle but significant shifts at the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2023 that show how the market’s need is changing to ‘connecting technologies’ rather than ‘connectivity’. This has deep implications for the industry and telcos in particular.
Mobile operators have many of the assets and capabilities required to become a major force in financial services, but they will also need to tap expertise in data analytics/machine learning.
The launch of Orange Bank in November 2017 begs the question as to whether other telcos should also be pushing much deeper into financial services, as new regulation and the rise of smartphones disrupt traditional banking.
Retail banks are threatened by a new breed of focused and fast digital firms – fintech – that offer cheaper and more tailored financial services. BBVA management saw this threat early and acted decisively to ensure it remained competitive. Telcos have much to learn from this.
Investment in fintech has increased by 500% in the last 3 years. Interest and investment has spiked as fintech companies seek to leverage new sources of data to develop disruptive offerings across a broad range of financial service areas (e.g. payments, lending & funding). The scale and scope of investment and activity represents a potential paradigm shift within financial services. Telcos, who have a long history developing financial services (e.g. mobile money), need to understand this changing landscape. This report explores why fintech is happening now and maps where and how it is disrupting established financial services.