DISRUPTIVE TRENDS IN FINANCE AND INNOVATION

Financial services

Technology advances, regulatory changes, and digital lifestyles are likely to reshape significantly the financial services landscape over the coming decade. Mobile, online, and telephone banking channels will become channels of choice for personal banking.

Non-traditional competitors will emerge and create disruption. In particular, in developing countries nonbank competitors have begun to cultivate effectively the world’s 2.5 billion adults who are either unbanked or underbanked using mainly mobile technologies. And, likely, it will lead to plenty of reverse innovation opportunities in the developed financial markets.

It is important to explore what is happening in emerging markets like Africa in this space that could provide learnings for Latin America. We need to identify what are the key disruptive trends and companies in this space .

Innovation in larges companies : business model innovation
For many companies the innovation model is centred around the technical side of the organization. It is expected that new products can be created thanks to the use of novel technologies and hopefully with the customer in mind trying to address an unmet demand. The problem is that even the most promising technologies can be wasted because of the go to market and business model the company uses to commercialize the technology.
That’s why is so relevant to innovate the business model that commercializes promising new ideas and technologies. Doing so is, for the most part, a simple process of trial and error. But at most companies it also requires the removal of some barriers to such innovation.

Innovation in larges companies: fourth wave of innovation
The first era of innovation, that of the lone inventor, encompassed much of human history. With the perfection of assembly line, a century ago, the increasing complexity and cost of innovation pushed it out of individuals’ reach, driving more company-led efforts. As companies started to be too big and bureaucratic, innovators began to leave companies and form new companies with the provided by venture capitalists.
The next era of innovation mixes the entrepreneurial approach of the third era of venture capital backed innovation with the capabilities housed in corporate labs. In this context, the access to outside innovation enables internal entrepreneurs within big companies to develop new services in less time.