Every fall, more than a dozen Forrester analysts across multiple roles meet to discuss what executives and leaders at financial services firms should anticipate over the next year. Driven by our ongoing research, the result of this brainstorm is now available as the just-published “Predictions 2017: Pioneering Financial Providers Will Partner With Fintech To Build Ecosystems” report. Forrester clients can read the full predictions report by clicking the button here:

               

For non-clients, here are three of the 16 predictions we outline in our new report:

  • Leading providers and fintech firms will partner to build ecosystems. Dynamic ecosystems of value threaten traditional, vertically integrated financial firms that want to stick with the old-school value chain. But ecosystems also offer opportunities to financial providers that think carefully about the roles they want to play in the ecosystem — and by extension, the role they want to play in customers’ lives. Pioneering financial providers like BBVA have built ecosystems with fintech firms like OnDeck, and we predict that in 2017, more leading firms will follow suit and build dynamic ecosystems of value.
  • The impact of PSD2 and other regulations will ripple across the globe. European banks and payments companies will spend much of 2017 preparing for the second phase of the EU’s Directive on Payment Services (PSD2). Providers will use application programming interfaces (APIs) to meet these needs as they innovate to counter the threat from disruptors. Firms outside the EU, meanwhile, will watch closely to gauge the results as companies innovate, enable more open API access, and continue the shift to real-time payments.
  • Incumbents will consider new business models – but take little action. Many financial services execs now recognize that sustained growth and long-term success will require business transformation, but their actions demonstrate little appetite for fundamental reinvention. In 2017, this will begin to change as a small cluster of pioneering firms experiment with new service models, new revenue streams, and new business models. E*TRADE, for example, is one of the few financial providers to start productizing its own APIs, a new sales model for the direct brokerage – and an example of adjacent innovation. Other financial providers are beginning to design new services that meet customers’ shared finances needs:  New Zealand’s ASB, for example, has built Clever Kash – a service focused on digitizing the allowances that parents give kids for doing their chores.

If you want to read our other predictions, read the full report. To discuss these predictions further, you can reach out to Forrester by requesting an Inquiry or speaking with your Forrester account manager.

You can also learn more about what Forrester expects next year by visiting http://forr.com/predictions2017. There you can download our free 2017 predictions guide that covers the top 15 dynamics that will shape the future in the age of the customer.