Letters: A history of challenger banks
[Re: Canary Wharf’s giants stand by idly as Brits flock en masse to challenger banks, August 15]
Fintech arose out of necessity, reacting to an era when financial institutions were not able to meet new market conditions brought on by the global recession. Their complacency on legacy systems and resistance to innovation was a product of their industry monopoly – without any challengers, there was little impetus to transform their ways of working.
The global recession changed all this. In the ensuing years, a surge of new institutions offering digitalised banking services led to the rise of Fintech. Banks had been forced to transform how they operate and take heed of new services.
Now, with the UK once again on the verge of a recession, history is repeating itself – should high street banks not improve the quality of their services, we could see a second resurgence of challenger banks as they seize a growing share of the market.
Rhys Merrett