Who will be the winners and losers of the mobile payments revolution? Will it be banks, telcos, tech heavyweights such as Apple and Google, or fintech start-ups? The favourite view of many tech analysts is that the banks will be the losers. This is based on the idea that they are lumbering giants, burdened by regulation, incapable of innovating due to internal bureaucracy and lacking the market savvy of tech firms.
While some of this may be true it does not tell the whole story, and the outcome is likely to be a lot more complex than the simple idea of ‘bank loses, tech firm wins’. For a start, some of the largest banks are managing to push innovation through their systems. HSBC, for example, has taken great strides in using social media to connect with customers (see this video) as well as with its corporate mobile offering, with firms prepared to pay for improved collection (The Banker’s March issue will include an article on ‘making money from mobile’).
