Survey: Banks Changing Business Models, Embracing Strategic Sourcing Partnerships to Stay Competitive in SEPA Payments Landscape Capgemini Poll of Global Financial Services Industry Executives Finds Wide Support for a new pan European cards scheme.
To remain in the forefront of developing a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), banks are reassessing their operating models in Europe, and more than 61% are incorporating new sourcing strategies in their plans, according to a survey of top industry executives conducted at SIBOS 2007.
The survey, conducted by Capgemini, also found that banks throughout Europe widely support the solution of a new European bank card programme that would replace existing national ones and provide an “Any Card at Any Terminal” field.
“Our survey at SIBOS suggests that the banking community is taking to heart many of the key findings of the 2007 World Payments Report, published recently by Capgemini, ABN AMRO and the EFMA,” says Bertrand Lavayssiere, group director, Capgemini Financial Services. “Clearly, banks throughout Europe are sharing the need to adopt new business models and strategies in order to succeed as the SEPA marketplace evolves.”
Surveyed on 2 Oct. at SIBOS, top financial executives were asked to comment on a range of critical financial issues, but they tended to focus largely on SEPA, which many consider to be one of the greatest transformations the global payments industry has ever faced. Among the top-line findings of the survey:
Forty-seven percent of the surveyed executives described the 2010 milestone for the SEPA initiative to reach critical mass the tipping point at which banks will begin decommissioning legacy payments as either “somewhat unrealistic” or “very unrealistic.”
* Eighty-five percent of the surveyed executives “strongly agree” or “somewhat agree” that SEPA adoption could be accelerated if regulators would provide incentives to mobilise the public sector and corporations to adopt the new SEPA instruments.
* An All-Europe card would be welcomed: Eighty-six percent of those surveyed were either “very much in favour” or “somewhat in favour” of a new European card that would replace existing national ones.
* As the SEPA landscape evolves, financial institutions are changing their business models to remain competitive, with many planning to form strategic sourcing partnerships. Asked if they currently outsource or plan to outsource their payment activities: 26% are already outsourcing some of their payment activities; 26% plan to outsource some payment activities in the next five years; and 42% have no plans to outsource payment activities.
“The survey at SIBOS, coming on the heels of the World Payments Report, demonstrates the enormous impact that the world’s leading financial experts predict SEPA will have on the global payments industry,” says Mike Hampson, global head of financial institutions, Transaction Banking, ABN AMRO. “The advent of SEPA will create a wide range of new competitive challenges for the financial community, and for many, the smart solution will be to seek out strategic sourcing partnerships with trusted and experienced service providers.”
Lavayssiere adds, “By working with a carefully chosen strategic sourcing partner, banks will be able to leverage their combined assets and capabilities. This will allow greater focus on core skills and full leverage of limited capital in the areas of the business that differentiate them.”