Nowhere is the saying, “teamwork makes the dream work” more true than in financial services, where the world’s best and brightest banks are teaming up with fintechs to:
catalyze innovation engage customers with digital options boost customer experience
So, let’s unpack eight bank and fintech partnerships that are transforming financial services for the better (in no particular order).
1) Royal Bank of Canada + Extend
City National Bank, a subsidiary of RBC, wanted to make waves in the payment space.
Extend lets business card holders distribute virtual credit cards to employees and contractors via the Extend mobile app without compromising security or control over spend.
Thus, their partnership. Now, business customers at City National Bank have an easier, safer way of covering their expenses.
2) Bank of Montreal + Blend
BMO was looking to up their mortgage and home equity experiences over digital in the U.S.
Blend’s digital lending platform streamlines customer journeys online, making it easier for customers to apply for and receive banking products.
Their relationship has been a fruitful one, too. With Blend, BMO has experienced a 253% YoY increase in digital equity applications. They’ve also cut five days from mortgage and home equity applications.
3) Bank of America + Zelle
When Bank of America realized cash was on the out, they wanted to give their digital payment capabilities a big boost. The goal: to make it as easy as possible for customers to send, receive, and request money via mobile.
Which is where Zelle came in.
In Q1 of 2020, Bank of America customers set $27 billion through Zelle over 102 million transactions. In the words of Larry David, “pretty, pretty, pretty good.”
4) Wells Fargo + The Climate Service
Wells Fargo has added a number of fintechs to their startup accelerator in an effort to drive innovation internally.
The Climate Service is just one of these companies.
They help financial institutions monitor, measure, and manage risks and opportunities associated with… you guessed it… climate change.
There aren’t any data points out to prove whether this partnership has paid off for Wells Fargo—yet. That said, this collaboration is an indication that they’re thinking actively about the potential risks of climate change.
Which is a good thing.
5) Barclays + Flux
Social and environmental issues are top of mind for many Millennials and Gen Zers. Unfortunately, paper receipts are no bueno for the environment. That’s right, turns out they aren’t recyclable, or compostable.
Who knew?
Barclays got hip to this trend early, taking a stake in Flux, a startup that has issued over a million digital receipts in the UK as of 2019.
This is a smart move, given that many banks have taken flak for ‘failing miserably’ on the climate crisis.
Plus, it’s likely to appeal to the next generation of bankers.
6) ING + Minna Technologies
Managing your digital subscriptions isn’t easy.
Ask someone how many online services they’re currently subscribed to, and most won’t be able to answer you.
But we spend an average of $640 on digital subscription services each year. And most of us lose track of where our money’s actually going.
That’s why ING paired up with Minna Technologies. Through ING’s digital channels, customers in the Benelux region now have a one-stop shop where they can manage their subscriptions and switch them up with better alternatives.
7) Lloyds Banks + Publicis Sapient
I know, I know. Publicis Sapient isn’t a fintech company.
That said, they’ve built a number of successful partnerships with banks across the pond, among them: Lloyds.
Post-GFC, Lloyds understood that, to succeed, they needed to adapt to the rapidly changing world around them.
Publicis Sapient supported their digital transformation, including helping them do open banking and GDPR. They also enabled Lloyds to adopt design service and thinking, and an agile methodology.
Today, Lloyds is one of the UK’s largest digital banks, with 16.4 million customers, 10.7 million of whom also use their mobile app.
Not too shabby.
8) TD Bank + Flybits
TD is customer obsessed.
They win plenty of awards every year for customer satisfaction, convenience, experience, and the list goes on.
It should come as no surprise to learn that they’re always looking for ways to improve customer experience.
That was the impetus for our partnership.
Today, we provide TD Bank Group with contextual intelligence and help them deliver personalized experiences to twelve million customers over mobile across the U.S. and Canada.
Flybits has been a true partner and extension of our team. The platform allows us to have more personalized and contextualized conversations with our customers, and we've derived immediate value from being able to better understand and cater to those who bank with us. Our partnership with Flybits has unequivocally empowered us to take digital engagement and mobile adoption to new heights—and we're just getting started.
Any partnerships we didn’t cover that you’d like to see? Shoot me a note here, and I’ll be sure to add them.
