The digital transformation in banking and the role of FinTechs in the new financial intermediation scenario

One of the main changes in the industry is becoming digitalization which is witnessing a profound transformation to the banking system. Digitalization offers new opportunities for banks to place the customer at the center of the development process. New technologies seem to be and stay in the market to disrupt the retail financial service value chain, as well as introducing new players into the competitive arena. Incumbents and new comers have innovative levers to adopt. The forces shaping these changes have led the industry to reconsider the role of banking and finance, more as an “enabler” than a provider of products and services. The article aims at defining digital transformation in the banking industry, outlining what banks and FinTech companies are both developing in the market, and also pointing out that it is not going to be the technology itself that will be the disruptor of the banking industry, but rather how firm deploys the technology that will cause the disruption.