Start-ups are formed against established banks



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FrankfortWhen Valentin Stalf launched his N26 smartphone bank almost four years ago, he only offered his customers a sophisticated application, a checking account and a credit card. But the young general manager has quickly increased the offer: with term accounts, a digital badet management, a check of insurance and credits. Partnerships make this possible.

Stalf's philosophy is: "We do not have to develop all products ourselves, but to cooperate with the most innovative fintechs and the best traditional suppliers." This strategy is also appreciated by other start-ups in the financial sector and guarantees a fast and more attractive offer.

For many bank managers, it is clear that established credit institutions, whether technology companies such as Google, Amazon or Facebook, are imposing themselves in the banking sector, represent a serious danger. We hardly talk about new financial companies as new competitors.

An error, as shown by a study by the consulting firm PwC. It records 380 German banks' cooperation with fintechs, but also more and more partnerships between young savages – with consequences for the banks.

The consultants base their badysis on data from Barkow Consulting and have a total of 180 cooperations in which German fintechs work in collaboration with other fintechs. A good number of 90 alliances have been created since the beginning of 2017.

"The Fintech form their own networks and become established players but dangerous again," warns Sascha Demgensky, a PwC expert. "It's an alarming trend for the traditional financial sector." Bank managers should not only see financial technologies as useful partners.

André Bajorat, connoisseur of the sector and general manager of Fintechs Figo, expects new cooperation between the fintechs: "In addition to Challenger banks and broker platforms, conventional banks are dangerous," he said.

N26 is the largest fintech bank with more than one million customers. Partners include the World Savings Bank, Vaamo Digital Asset Manager, Clark Insurance Broker and the Auxmoney Credit Platform.

Kontist is pursuing a similar strategy. The Berlin start-up offers professional accounts for the self-employed. Through partnerships with Fintechs Debitoor and Fastbill, as well as with the Haufe group, these accounts can also be linked to accounting software.

When choosing a partner, it is important to solve the problem of a customer together, says Kontist CEO Sibylle Strack. "Whether the provider has been around for 100 years or has been in the market over the past two years is a rather subordinate role for us."

However, Demgensky, a consultant at PwC, believes that this has the advantage of meeting peers who, in case of doubt, are more flexible than established financial institutions.

Other examples of cooperation include the investment market Moneymeets, which – like N26 – transfers deposits into accounts with global savings banks or partnerships between young credit platforms. Thus, Finanzcheck and Smava negotiate loans to Auxmoney.

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