Banking Innovations

Australia’s banking business is ripe for disruptive innovation, and has been for many decades. Despite constant attempts at enhancing financial services, large innovations aren’t on the horizon. Since the battlefield for mobile and contactless obligations are drawn, it is clear the primary basis of competition will not be specialized telecoms or monetary, but instead one of customer experience. So here are a few areas wherein Australia’s monetary services have a fertile chance for invention, and a few questions to help them arrive there. 

What if there wasn’t any more money, everywhere, for whatever? What does a totally cashless economy seem like? There are several really large opportunities here for invention, from convenient micro obligations, to transport payments to street booth sellers, and pocket money for the kids. Some inventions are already seeing their way to the wilds, but largely these are a technological turn on existing theories. Contactless payments with near field communication technologies makes for a nicer experience go and tap, but are, towards the end of the day, a version of credit and debit card transactions in different types. So take 1. 

A step further: Imagine if my money was part of me that’s, what if I didn’t want a physical card issued by a bank, secured with a PIN or password? What if the number, kind, and access to my funds have been tied to me? I don’t mean simple biometric protection, which is only a different sort of password or access control. What if I had to remember which card to pull out of my wallet? What if I had to remember which PIN goes using that account? Imagine if your money is yours, immediately. Today’s banking infrastructure still has built in delays that mean I will transfer money from me and, while it’s no longer mine, it also is not quite yet yours. 

Small companies face this issue every day. A stream of clients come through those doors of those local cafes on a Saturday morning, parents using their sweaty, post sport kids have brunch and coffee, and pay using the credit or debit card. Some days later Tuesday or Wednesday in a lot of cases the cafe is capable of making use of that money. The wait comes from a series of integrated delays: no transaction for a weekend, overnight interbank transfers, settlement periods. Radically reducing this time delay will be a major benefit to those millions of small business owners around Australia. 

What if I never paid a different fee, ever again? Imagine does a banking system look like wherein I never pay a fee. No account keeping fees, no interchange fee, no exit fees, no charges for over those counter transactions. In return for access to my money I receive a return proportionate to my risk and balanced against the convenience of modern electronic banking.