Convergence and the Changing Landscape of Financial Services

Competing in the world of twenty-first-century financial services requires that traditional financial services organizations rethink not only their product offerings but also the very nature of how they provide value to customers. New market entrants, hungry to acquire customers, are rapidly rising to meet the competition head on by commoditizing prices, often by offering unprofitable terms to lure customers, and providing convenient technology access to products. During the last forty years of computing, technology-differentiated companies with deep pockets established a competitive buffer between opponents because the cost of the technology put it out of reach of smaller firms. Now eBusiness and Internet banking technologies are within easy reach of any potential market entrant, blurring the lines between added value and customer service. The differentiator is now service vis-à-vis a tightly coupled integration of technology to create added value by excelling at the customer service process.