Imagine a Michelin starred chef with a new concept for a restaurant menu. While the idea is great, without the other component parts that make for a successful restaurant, the concept simply disappears. The chef also needs a venue, a maitre’d, staff to serve the customers, ingredients for the food and much more.
But these things are not the chef’s area of expertise. Nor does he have the experience or time to source other experts. While the concept is fantastic, and sure to be a success if they can get it off the ground, the chef needs the help to source the different elements.
There’s a whole heap of ingredients needed to actually make this a successful business - besides just a great menu.
It’s the same for neobanks.
Fintech is the same
A fantastic idea for a niche audience, or new banking experience is not enough. They need to be able to issue bank accounts, banking cards and more. All of these individual elements are mammoth tasks in themselves, and are a trial of endurance for any entrepreneur. But without them, there’s no chance of success.
And on top of that, in the pursuit of all these elements, and staying on top of regulation and compliance, the entrepreneur’s attention is diverted from what it all started with - a great concept for a new banking experience.
In the competitive environment of financial services and products, fintechs must focus on the ingredients that give them an identity. Fintech is enduring its own kind of gastronomy revolution and often it’s now user experience that is the gateway to retaining and expanding any company's customer base.
Menus are expanding and so too are the list of suppliers that can help businesses define their USP and drive down the cost of going to market.
But with choice comes complexity
That's why here at Integrated Finance, we’re using advanced technology to deliver all the fundamental ingredients (account issuance, FX, transaction monitoring, cards, payments, etc.) from expert suppliers straight into the hands of our customers. We give businesses the power to select the right ingredients specific to their needs and help them get to market quickly, cost-effectively and successfully.
Being a challenger bank isn't enough anymore
The next generation of fintechs have to solve problems above and beyond convenience and accessibility. Fintech has upped its game, and with products like Currencycloud out there, new market entrants are better equipped to tackle these problems. ComplyAdvantage have spent years honing their efforts on stopping financial crime - so you don't have to. Currencycloud have spent years sweating the details of FX and cross border - so you don't have to. GPS has spent years dealing with card schemes like Visa - so you don't have to.
And Integrated Finance is the product of founders who used them all before and now want to bring them all to you, the founder, so that you can take these staples and craft something truly unique for a customer who needs it. We call it internally the 'platform thinking' - leveraging the creativity and resources of third parties whilst standardizing interactions so you can get on with creating greater value for your customers rather than trying to solve your technical problems.
