• Miriam Ballesteros, Marketing and Integrated Communications at Strands


• 08.11.2017 09:15 am
Money20/20 , Miriam Ballesteros is a marketing & communication professional with a strong interest in PR, Media Relations and Social Media. She is responsible for PR activities at Strands and develops digital marketing strategies for MoneyStrands, the new B2C financial management app.

Several of the STRANDS team recently traveled to Las Vegas to attend Money20/20– the world’s largest payment and financial services event. We had a great time connecting with market leaders, smart people, and other innovative companies like ourselves, making an impact on the FinTech ecosystem.

Although it was physically impossible to attend all sessions, we managed to pick out five nuggets of information that we found particularly interesting in the game-changing world of money. Ready? Let’s get started.

Invisible banking is shaping what’s next in financial innovation

We see and touch less and less money nowadays; it’s becoming invisible. What does this mean for banks? Are banks necessary when no money is involved? Chris Skinner stated that “a new world order of data flows: where money is just data, banks are data stores, and FinTech firms are data flows.”

At STRANDS, we believe in banks becoming ‘life partners’ offering financial literacy to the end-user; a win-win situation for both bank and customer. Here’s more on what invisible money management really means for everyone involved.  

Customer experience: the path to win hearts, minds and create value

Mobility, world class UX, data science, and innovative loyalty programs are not only the future of marketing but also the tools to create personalized and context-aware financial experiences for even the most discerning mobile natives.

Switching to a customer-centric mindset might sound completely normal in a modern technology company, but this is idea is still relatively new within the banking sector. In digital banking, onboarding is the most direct way to illustrate to users the type of customer experience that can be expected at your bank.

Financial inclusion: FinTech can actually make an impact on people’s lives

Three years ago, 2.5 billion adults (36% of the world’s population) were unbanked. Today, 2 billion adults still have no bank account. More still are banked but not financially healthy - even in developed markets.

The good news are that FinTechs can actually help build an inclusive economy around the globe - especially if they partner with banks. From tailoring experiences to underserved populations (be it Millennials, Women, and the underbanked), to having an inclusive workforce, the financial technology sector has the responsibility to design financial services and products that help attain financial health.

Collaborations are the next big move in payments

When it comes to achieve big things, partnering with purpose pulls the switch. This is an undeniable trend that was all around Money20/20, where leaders from First Data, Silicon Valley Bank and Bypass discussed how “the future of commerce is increasingly driven by those outside the traditional payment businesses, but without the foundation of the incumbent payment technology companies, these disruptors are challenged to scale their solutions and ultimately establish a strong user base.”

Once again, this shows that there are frameworks for banks to establish working partnership relations with the FinTech companies that are mutually beneficial.

Making banking more human: it’s all about relationships

It’s a fact that all users have an emotional experience with money. People experience money differently and associate unique feelings, motivations and behaviors with different pots of money.

Thus, there is an opportunity for organizations to make banking more human, to better serve customers through relationships. Learn how to transform your relationship banking by understanding how people relate to money.

This post originally appears at blog.strands.com