Mark, what鈥檚 the deal with all of this insanity?
You forgot Christmas in July with Prime Day.
Actually, I removed that from my memory, due to another slightly frustrating Prime Day shopping experience.
Just look around鈥攜ou can also point to a drop in NLF ratings. The problem is鈥ait for it鈥ver-saturation! The logic that 鈥渕ore鈥� or 鈥渆arlier鈥� is better seems to have hit its tipping point. Kudos to The Mall of America for fighting back and closing on Thanksgiving. We鈥檝e talked about this before鈥�how many options is too many options?
Yep, too much choice can be a bad thing. Is there any (choice) slowdown in sight?
I think we鈥檙e going to see the pendulum swinging back to a happy medium鈥攑op-up Halloween stores will begin arriving at the start of fall, perhaps, as opposed to the height of summer. 聽
Let鈥檚 talk about the correlation between (too many) choices and mobile.
It seems like there鈥檚 an explosion of options鈥攁t any different time, you could have 10+ options for paying at the check-out. Think back to when we emptied our pockets at Money20/20 Copenhagen.
Ah, yes, the dreaded shawarma incident鈥nother item I had removed from my memory.
There鈥檚 a point where the consumer hits the 鈥減aralysis moment,鈥� where they (will) just default to their ingrained habits, in this case, where they will default to cash or coin鈥r to plastic.
So let鈥檚 dovetail into 2017 and into what to expect鈥nd we won鈥檛 bore our readers with presidential predictions and subsequent fallout.
This idea of explosion of choices and new market entrants鈥攚e鈥檙e going to see consolidation as a result of increased M&A. There are so many good options, but too many鈥攚e鈥檒l see natural pair-offs as a result鈥nd this will lead to a better customer experience.
How?
By taking all of the niche products that were disparate and bringing them together into one or a couple of holistic offerings. Think about all of the disparate single points and single use offerings for mobile鈥攖here鈥檚 yet to be a true holy grail offering.
Holy Grail? As in The聽Knights聽Who聽Say聽“Ni! (apologies, got sidetracked). Will that (offering) be a reality鈥ver?
We may have found the key to unlock that mystery.
And that key is?
Open APIs, baby! Buzzword #1. We鈥檙e starting to see in the industry a willingness to partner that we鈥檝e not seen at current levels鈥ver. It鈥檚 not necessarily APIs or Open APIs being new; it鈥檚 about the willingness of partnering.
So is 鈥榩artner鈥� buzzword #2? Or is it overused buzzword #1?
The latter.
So what鈥檚 buzzword #2?
Ecosystem.
Oooh, sooo sassy! Why ecosystem?
You have a situation where you have governments, incumbents (vendors), fintech start-ups and FIs鈥攖hey鈥檙e coming together. It鈥檚 no longer one group versus another鈥攊t鈥檚 now about them getting together to solve consumer problems鈥攄eveloping full ecosystems and putting the customer at the center.
Like Kumbaya or like Cheetos and Chicken Fries (full disclosure, I鈥檝e never eaten a Chicken Fry, let alone a Cheetos Chicken Fry)
I think it鈥檚 more like Kumbaya.
Well either way, this partnership鈥 mean ecosystem鈥his ecosystem kinda makes me feel that, to quote Bob Marley, everything鈥檚 gonna be alright, especially considering the aforementioned insanity going on all around us.
To be fair, this goes back to the question of adapt or die. That鈥檚 a trite statement however, as banks are not only still needed, but (can) have a seat at the table alongside the governments, vendors and upstarts. Unlike the taxi industry鈥檚 willingness to sit at the table and talk about fixing its offering, the banks are taking this opportunity to partner and work toward delivering a great experience that customers are expecting.
So we didn鈥檛 really talk about insanity (and for some reason, I always envision Susan Powter when I write the word 鈥渋nsanity鈥�). You attended the recent Sibos conference. Anything insane happen in Geneva or did sensibilities reign supreme?
Sensibility is a relative term. I will say you could smell change in the air and despite the snow in the mountains overlooking us, no one was proclaiming “winter is coming.” Let’s see what is in the air in Vegas in a few weeks…
And with that, here鈥檚 to more forthcoming buzzwords…and to less insane clowns (and to less Insane Clown Posse).聽
