Platform as a mandatory path for the banking sector?
First, and for the purposes of this article, we must define what we mean by platform in the context of the banking sector: Platform is a set of products and services that are available online for consumption, in a single and simple interface, with enough flexibility for future integration of new products and services.
The platform aims to simplify the implementation and experience , which does not imply simplifying the offer, but rather enriching it. The importance of simplifying experience arises precisely from the tendency towards a broader and possibly more complex portfolio. This dynamism in the supply arises from the disruption that we witness on a daily basis in the financial market and that generates an enormous pressure on the banking entities.
The evolution of the market as well as the surrounding technology lead to the components of the value chain multiplying : payment methods, current accounts, savings solutions, reports, warnings, bitcoin,… the options of services that are available are numerous and are appearing every day, and that the banking entities need to make these coexist in the same environment.
In our view, we must not give in to the temptation to have everything at the cost of a less fluid experience.
There must be a concern to integrate what is new into the bank ecosystem in the user’s natural environment. In fact, behind the scenes there may be hundreds of APIs linking to expert suppliers , but on the scene, there must be a coherent, integrated image and experience that does not reflect this multiplicity of actors.
Likewise, we should not find problems to fit technological solutions, but rather focus on the current challenges of the clients and try to overcome them, ensuring a subscription, use and deactivation process that is as simple as it is pleasant and safe.
In this scenario, linking new functionality via APIs, assuring a consistent experience, allows banks to launch innovative products and test new solutions, without creating disruption to legacy systems, and without interdependencies that compromise the overall operation of the core whenever a new feature is “in” or “out”.
This whole process can be guaranteed by the integration platform which, by keeping the information silos unchanged, allows the creation of link bridges, ensuring the process is fast, centralized and simplified, conveying an idea of information uniqueness, a fundamental requirement to meet today’s needs.
