Let’s back up: One year ago, we made our predictions for what would happen to banking and fintech in 2022. Given the outbreak of war in Ukraine, historically high inflation, and widespread economic uncertainty this year, the situation looks a lot different now than it did last December.
With that in mind, we look back at what we correctly predicted, what we got half right, and what we were woefully wrong about.
Our Big Tech in banking prediction: The Big Four will expand in embedded finance with Apple to offer additional products like buy now, pay later (BNPL)—while Meta and Google create more integrations between their digital wallets and existing banking or financing solutions.
The Verdict: Spot on. Big Tech firms have faced tough challenges this year, with plunging valuations and a raft of layoffs. But they’ve still made progress with their push into financial services.
- We correctly called Apple exploring BNPL, after it teased Apple Pay Later.
- And Meta, Google, and Amazon have built out the financial services they offer, although have all taken very different approaches.
Our hyper-personalization prediction: We foresaw that new players would build hyper-personalized experiences to help consumers take control of their finances. And that in 2022, banks and fintechs would focus on building products and services that address financial and social equity.
The Verdict: On the money. Banks and fintechs recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach to financial services excludes too many customers. Technology like artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time data is helping them to tailor experiences to ever narrower slices of their user base to boost customer satisfaction, growth, and loyalty.
- Bank of America’s hugely successful AI-powered virtual assistant Erica is one example, merging a chatbot with human assistants to give customers a more personalized service.
- And segment-specific banks like Daylight, an LGBT+ focused affinity bank; Greenwood, geared toward Black and Latino consumers; and Majority, focused on banking for US migrants, are growing and raising funds, particularly in the US.