A Report from Mobey Forum’s IoT Expert Group
Co-chaired by:
Veronica Lange, UBS
Sasa Skrgic, Erste Bank
Editors:
Stefan Stafrace and Lishoy Francis, Consult Hyperion
Executive Summary by David G.W. Birch, Global Ambassador, Consult Hyperion
Contributors:
Mobey Forum’s IoT Expert Group
Over the past years, technological solutions based on Internet of Things (IoT) have rapidly penetrated the consumer market, for instance, with voice-controlled digital assistant devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home; connected domestic gadgets ranging from kettles to refrigerators and on a larger scale, connected vehicles, and a myriad of other examples.
Indeed, IoT continues to evolve significantly, solidly embedding itself in our lives, driven by the need to boost productivity and provide additional convenience through streamlined and automated processes, potentially, at reduced costs. Managing interconnected physical objects, or Things, remotely and harnessing any data gathered from their interactions with other Things and the environment, has presented an opportunity to disrupt and revolutionise consumer experiences and, importantly, to create new, and perhaps pioneering, business propositions based on realtime data. Moreover, innovative applications are increasingly being integrated into Things envisaged to play a centric role in consumers’ daily routines, liberating them from repetitive, mundane tasks.
Unsurprisingly, Financial Institutions (FIs) want to, or rather cannot risk not to, be involved in this IoT revolution. If they choose to ignore IoT, they can make themselves more vulnerable to full-scale disruption, increasing the likelihood of being left behind by competitors, and in danger of displacement from new entrants, eventually making it costlier to invest in the technology at a later stage. Alternatively, FIs could wait and see what happens, and only make a move when the technology matures, thereby limiting the risk; however, by then they would have lost the first mover’s advantage and would still have much ground to cover to catch up with their competitors, again at potentially higher costs. Therefore, it is crucial for FIs to determine now the implications of this emerging technology on their business and understand the different roles they can play in the IoT ecosystem, so they can eventually capitalise on IoT-based solutions and safeguard their competitive advantage.
This report aims to provide some perspective on how FIs can be impacted by IoT in terms of potential opportunities and challenges. The intention is to help FIs understand what IoT is and that it comes with a potential to optimise internal productivity, consumer experiences and new value propositions.
