Startups transforming one of the biggest banking sectors in CEE
“Startup the Bank” is the most recent report on startups whose solutions transform the Polish banking sector. According to the study, not only traditional fintech companies stand the chance of becoming banks’ technological partners and after a successful pilot project, 7 out of 10 companies continue to cooperate. The report, prepared jointly by the largest bank in the region, along with partners, offers a study of 100 companies from the fintech industry.
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In the digital transformation era, adaptation of innovative technologies is the only way to win the market. Expenditures on development of innovations in the Polish banking sector have been growing by 14.5% on average annually; in 2019 they amounted to PLN 1.6 billion. A significant portion of solutions are worked out by the banks together with their technological partners. Who are the authors of the state-of-the-art tools for the banking sector? What is the course of development of innovative companies? Who are their customers and how long does it take to source them? The answers to these and many other questions are presented in the “Startup the Bank” report, prepared jointly by PKO Bank Polski, PKO VC, the Domestic Cloud Provider and The Heart.
How to “break into” a bank
Banks in the region specialise in a systemic approach to the cooperation with startups more than any other industry, building dedicated programs and innovation teams. Acceleration in banking offers a 3-times higher guarantee of signing a contract than in other sectors (where traditional sale performs better). The most efficient mode of launching cooperation is a pilot project. Almost 9 out of 10 startups cooperating with banks had “pilots” of their solutions. For 70% of them, this allowed the signing of a commercial contract. According to 40% of respondents, their solutions are a must-have for a modern banking sector. Three major implementation areas include data analysis, internal process optimisation and customer servicing.
Financial benefits are the most important aspect of cooperation only for 17% of companies. A definite majority is more interested in image-related benefits or access to the customer base, along with feedback from the professional partner. Results show that apart from Poland, the market for researched startups include the UK, Germany, the US, Spain and Singapore.
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