Disruptive times in the banking industry as a chance for start-ups

The importance of Banking and Financial Markets for Switzerland is widely acknowledged. Yet the number of start-ups active in this field is still small. The third innovation roundtable organised by CTI Invest and hosted by IBM Global Entrepreneur was a contribution to change this.

In his keynote Pablo E. Suarez, VP Global Center of Competence for Banking and Financial Markets at IBM, spoke about three main trends in the banking industry that create new opportunities for start-ups. The trends are:

• Mobile Banking – “With 4 billion mobile phone users worldwide, mobile is reshaping the way we work and live – and bank and pay”, Suarez said.
• Social Business – Social Media will not only change marketing and communication but will also make it possible to deliver new “social” products, enhance customer service, expand a delivery channel and leverage a new source of customer data.
• Big Data – New possibilities for analytics driven by alternative data sources through social media and increasing number of channels and devices. Suarez cited a study showing that global outperformers in the banking and financial industry are as twice as good at deriving value from data as underperformers.

In the second half of the event three Swiss start-ups had the chance to present to the audience with investors and ICT and banking experts: DSwiss, Netguardians and Sysmosoft. Like the keynote the presentations demonstrated the opportunities for start-ups in this field. DSwiss as well as Netguardians have already attracted renowned customers like Zürcher Kantonalbank or several private banks.

An exemption is Sysmosoft. The company is still in an early phase of development. But the chances for this start-up are good because it addresses one of the trends mentioned by Suarez. Sysmosoft is specialising in highly secured telecommunications solutions for mobile devices, for companies requiring protected access to sensitive data remotely.

The keynote presentation and the presentations of the start-ups can be downloaded from the website of CTI Invest.