Almost half (43%) of European banks invest in fintech start-ups and a third (36%) build their own greenfield digital bank or fintech company – study

Europe’s banks see migrating core banking systems to the cloud and SaaS as a strategic priority, to improve customer experience and ensure operations are agile and secure. Also, they are more likely than those in other regions to expect neobanks to be their company’s biggest competitors in the next five years.

New research from Economist Impact supported by Temenos finds that European banks are fighting back against competition from platform players, neobanks and payment providers.

According to the study, “Challenging the challengers: Europe’s banks face the competition”, almost half (43%) are investing in fintech start-ups and a third (36%) are building their own greenfield digital bank or fintech company.

The survey found that just 21% of senior executives in European banks believe that challenger banks will flourish, and 35% expect that there will be market consolidation. In response, they are continuing to build their own greenfield digital banks or fintech companies at a higher level than banks in other regions.

But they are also exploring collaboration by investing in fintech start-ups, creating banking super-apps or ecosystems that bring in the offerings of fintech firms, and providing “banking as a service” offerings to fintech firms and other companies.

More details here