How the digital surge will reshape finance

These changes in behaviour seem likely to stick (黏住，持续). Many customers were unfamiliar with the technology before the pandemic—and surveys suggest they like it. In April nearly a fifth of American adults used digital payments for the first time, reckons Forrester, a research firm. Since February Nubank has gained 30,000 users over the age of 60 every month. In a global survey Bain, a consultancy, found that 95% of consumers plan to use digital banking post-pandemic. And banks, which had already been planning to shrink their physical footprint, are closing branches more quickly than they had envisaged (设想). Brazilian lenders have shut down 1,500 this year, 7% of the total stock. Those in Europe are planning to slash 2,500 branches. Banks will strive to keep the everyday business online, with branches that stay open often being revamped (翻新，修改) to provide “high-value” services such as advice, says Allison Beer of JPMorgan Chase, America’s biggest lender.

The law of the bundle

In the middle of the digital rush, a new business model is emerging—and new entrants are being drawn in. Banks, e-commerce sites, fintechs, social networks, taxi apps and telecoms firms are all vying to become “platforms”—marketplaces through which users can buy a range of financial products made in-house (内部) or by third parties. “Everybody is trying to become the home page,” says Tara Reeves of Omers Ventures, the venture-capital arm of Canada’s municipal-pension fund. Grab, a ride-hailing (打车服务) app in Singapore that has grown into the country’s most popular mobile wallet, has over 60 tie-ups with banks, insurers and other financial firms. Reuben Lai, who runs its finance arm, says it wants “to be a one-stop (一站式) platform” that fulfils South-East Asians’ financial needs.

Investors reckon (认为，猜想) that “embedded finance”—the integration of credit, insurance and investment into non-financial apps or websites—could in time (及时，适时) become as valuable as payment services are today. Both banks and fintechs are therefore racing to integrate the services they offer. In September Yandex, Russia’s leading web-search and ride-hailing app, said it would buy the country’s largest digital bank. A week later Sberbank, Russia’s top lender, dropped “bank” from its name in order to rebrand (更名) itself as a tech firm dabbling in food delivery and telemedicine. Peter Ndegwa, who runs Safaricom, a Kenyan telecoms firm and m-pesa’s main owner, wants the service to become a “lifestyle brand” offering overdrafts (透支), loans, wealth management and insurance.