ADN’co Payments Insight – November 2016

Innovation and Paperless Exchanges: Keys to the Future of Payments?

Neo-banks – A business model in the Making

• GERMANY / FRANCE – The German neo-bank N26 launches N26 Black: a premium offer with companion high-end card, and insurances. In the meantime, it is also getting ready for a new launch in France, where a paid model and several levers are being considered: entry-level offers and high-end services.
• BELGIUM – Anytime just raised five million euros and made adjustments to their development strategy. They would now aim to become an aggregation platform for banking services, while targeting businesses.

These announcements shed light on current adjustments in the emerging market of neo-banks. The point for these disruptive structures would be to craft a long-lasting financial model: The “all free” approach is losing ground.

Market opening and geographical expansions seem necessary for these players to last before longstanding banking institutions. Individual customers have been addressed, and now so are business segments through white-label API-based services. As many means for these start-ups to increase their revenue.

Virtual Currencies – National reflections underway

• SWEDEN – the Swedish central bank is pondering over crafting a national virtual currency: an “e-krona”.
• SINGAPORE – The Monetary Authority of Singapore prepares a Blockchain-based platform for online cross-border transactions.

After the UK, Canada, and Ecuador, for instance, more countries are giving thought to State-regulated virtual currencies. The idea for local authorities would be rely on Blockchain protocols to propose faster and less expensive services.

Beyond the notion of banking inclusion which accounts for several studies (including actual launches in Ecuador), possible applications for these technologies in e-commerce contexts have been leading governments to pay attention to their evolutions. Irrevocability and traceability remain keywords, especially when it comes to rethinking cross-border transactions.