MOBILE BANKING HAS COME INTO ITS OWN UNDER COVID-19 , BUT FINTECHS MUST ADAPT TO COMPETE WITH THE STRENGTHS OF INCUMBENT BANKS
MOBILE BANKING
HAVE DIGITAL BANKS TURNED THE CORNER ?
WRITTEN BY RHYS THOMAS
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MOBILE BANKING HAS COME INTO ITS OWN UNDER COVID-19 , BUT FINTECHS MUST ADAPT TO COMPETE WITH THE STRENGTHS OF INCUMBENT BANKS
L ast November , Starling Bank hit headlines with the announcement it would break even for the first time . What would be a commonplace piece of financial reporting in other sectors is a rare and in some respects unique milestone in the mobile banking sphere . Starling posted £ 800k in profit on revenue of £ 9m for October 2020 , making it “ the first of the new breed of digital banks to become profitable ,” according to its founder , Anne Boden .
Industry commentators pointed to Tinkoff , the Russian digital bank founded by Oleg Tinkov , or China ’ s WeBank , as the actual first wave of neobanks to turn a profit . But Starling ’ s achievement remains noteworthy as an indicator of the sector at large : finally a big European mobile bank has entered the black , and in a year when incumbents were feeling the pinch .
JANUARY 2021