Mark Trousdale, Chief Marketing Officer, InvestCloud
As more Covid restrictions lift around the world, there has been an inevitable fresh frenzy of opinions shared over the role the office will play in the future working world. But for wealth managers, another more pressing hybrid working scenario is front of mind: to what extent will client relationships return to direct and in-person interactions, and how do client preferences on this pressing issue differ across the wealth continuum?
by Mark Trousdale, Chief Marketing Officer, InvestCloud
In this business of relationships, the white-glove service traditionally demanded by high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) might seem like a harbinger of a return to the more traditional routine of face-to-face meetings and phone calls. But don’t be so sure.
After two years of tumultuous change, the expectations and preferences of how the world’s most affluent want to engage with their wealth managers and financial advisors have shifted dramatically – and had been doing so for some time before. Already many HNWIs used online banking and enjoyed the convenience of digital tools in other areas of their lives, across the age spectrum. And the shift to digital accelerated by the pandemic seems only set to increase amid the mind-boggling $68 trillion baby boomers are expected to pass on to younger, more tech-savvy generations. Add to this a greater emphasis on transparency and a desire to play a more active role in their investments – including to invest differently as the ESG movement takes off – and it’s clear HNWIs today want a much more personalized and intuitive digital experience from their wealth manager.
So how can wealth managers and advisors translate the same high-touch offline experience into the digital arena, and what advantages can this bring to their business?
Remodelling the digital experience for HNWIs
The conflation of the broad possibilities of digital advice with the more narrow purview of Robo advice has led some to discount digital for certain segments of the industry. Some try to discount the importance of digital because it is often thought of as only catering to the mass market – for example, pointing out that simple onboarding questionnaires create a one-size-fits-all approach that can never meet the sophisticated needs of HNWIs. But this misses the broader capabilities of digital.
We need a new model for how clients can interact with their wealth digitally – one attuned to their unique needs and preferences. This is critical whether you look at excellence in client communications or planning. And indeed it’s as much about flexibility in the experience and understandability (intuitiveness) as it is about reflecting that you understand and share the feelings of your clients, digitally. This is what is called ‘digital empathy’. The future of wealth management relies on this, particularly because it is true for all levels of wealth and especially so for HNWIs.
To achieve digital empathy for excellence in communication and planning, wealth managers need to recognize and deliver digital solutions to suit a range of unique digital client personas that go far beyond traditional wealth segmentation by age, gender, wealth and the like. They should incorporate characteristics such as financial interests, ESG values, digital savviness, approach to digesting information and appetite to set life goals. This means portfolios and products – and equally digital experiences – are fit around the client and not the other way around.
For instance, many HNWIs are increasingly demonstrating the desire to be increasingly involved in their investments. With deep knowledge and interest in financial markets, they want to play a more hands-on role in their investments – and align them to their values. They may want to sign off on all investment decisions or have a portion of funds to tinker with themselves. Educational tools rather than overly managed or advised solutions will speak best to them, helping them build investment models or recommend different products to try. But chat, video calls and other digital communication channels to their financial advisor should remain open when needed. The key is that they call the shots.
Other HNWIs – though increasingly fewer – may want a more traditional approach. These might still like to receive PDF reports – which can certainly be done more efficiently digitally using publication to a client portal. They may check their investments online but need the reassurance of speaking to their advisor in person or on the phone before making decisions.
It’s about picking the right model for the right client. Equally, it’s not about supplanting human advice outright but supplementing and enhancing it with what’s possible in digital.
End-to-end financial planning
Everybody needs a financial plan. That’s true no matter your level of wealth or life stage – whether that’s saving for a house, your child’s education, buying a second home or managing cash flow. But the fact is that HNWIs have more nuanced financial complexities to contend with – from tax, real estate and cash flow management to business succession planning – that require the specialist know-how of a financial planner armed with the right digital tools for maximum operational efficiency.
The problem is this service to date has been very fragmented. A financial planner would produce a comprehensive and lengthy plan and may recommend a private bank to help implement it, but the burden ultimately fell back on the HNWI (hardly a white-glove service). But in a digital environment, this process can be much more joined-up; an advisor can build a bespoke plan and, in the same stroke, recommend complementary products and solutions to help clients achieve their financial goals. All while communicating effectively about the plan. This is much more seamless, convenient and understandable for end clients.
Increasing client engagement at scale
HNWIs are often considered wealth managers’ most prized and sought-after clients, but increasingly they are not the most lucrative. According to Capgemini, while HNWI wealth is up over 70% since 2008, profitability has decreased for wealth management firms. They may bring in vast sums of wealth to manage, but servicing this is often very labour intensive and squeezes margins. And this means all the best client engagement in the world could still fail to support the business.
Identifying high-friction automatable workflows is the first step to achieving high-quality service at scale – processes like prospecting, onboarding and cashflow forecasting. The second piece of the puzzle is to partner well to benefit from intelligent digital tools to enhance operational efficiency. It’s a decreasing but still fairly commonly held false belief that advisors need to be the best at building technology. Whereas the truth is they need to be the best at advice and wealth management and partner well.
A great example of automation is the operational efficiency that AI-driven Next Best Action recommendations can bring to the industry. Machine learning trained on client data can provide key insights into how clients interact with their wealth online. Marry that with automated research analysis using natural language processing and AI, and advisors can quickly start to generate custom recommendations for products and actions in a client portfolio that are as personalized as clients really expect top-notch wealth managers to be these days. This means that advisors can intervene and engage with clients efficiently by knowing exactly when and how to give the best advice.
We are still just on the cusp of seeing how digital tools like these can help propel the wealth industry forward. Wealth managers should embrace this and not harbour any preconceived notions that their HNWI clients are eager to return to the old ways of interacting. It is about planning, communicating, and implementing the right hybrid mix of advice that best fits the client while always looking for opportunities to harness the greater degrees of personalization now possible in digital. That is the level of service clients expect. And luckily, it doesn’t have to come at the cost of scale.
James Turnbull, Chief Digital Officer at Reassured
The acceleration in digital transformation and digital adoption across all industries has raised customer expectations over the last few years. The way customers want to pay for or access services has changed for good, so insurers, just like all those in financial services, have to meet those expectations to stay competitive.
by James Turnbull, Chief Digital Officer at Reassured
Consumers were already getting used to a smarter, more personalised service thanks to the rise in technology, but the pandemic, with its need for arm’s length interactions, fast-tracked the need for service providers to offer that service.
It’s apparent that greater adoption of fintech and innovation in the insurance industry is needed, both to keep up with changing customer expectations and ensure that the customer always remains the first priority.
How does the insurance sector measure up?
There are plenty of industries where embracing and benefitting from fintech is the norm, but arguably insurance is not yet one of them, having lagged behind its counterparts when it comes to embracing new technologies and adapting to changing customer needs. This includes the way in which we can now buy most products and interact with service providers so quickly and seamlessly online.
The stereotypical view of insurance may well be that of a traditional, paper-heavy industry that’s not known to keep pace with technology, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Figures from PWC demonstrate that almost half of the industry globally claims to have fintech as an integral part of corporate strategy. However, only 28% of industry players look at partnering with fintech organisations, and only around 14% actually participate in fintech ventures or incubator programmes.
But with many insurers beginning to introduce online platforms offering a “buy now” option for their products, it is clear that a shift is beginning to take place. Insurance brokers need technology to maintain their competitive edge, and if they don’t embrace fintech to better meet customer needs, they will lose out to those that do. Moreover, the rise of challenger banks has also put increasing pressure on traditional institutions in the financial services sector, who now need to strategise how they can compete and retain their market share.
Using FinTech to meet customer needs
The goal of insurers is to broaden the pool of people that have access to protection, and fintech is the only way to achieve that in today’s digital world. The way the industry sells insurance should be the result of how the customer wants to access these products, not the other way around.
Some customers are looking for advice to make sure they get the best product, and there is tech out there that can ensure they get directed to this channel, should it be best for them. Other customers just want a simple out-of-the-box policy that they can buy quickly and easily, with at least some elements of self-service.
Technology can help, giving customers, access to a tailored comparison of life insurance products based on their answers to a single set of underwriting questions, and then offering an efficient and straightforward “buy now” capability.
Giving customers the choice that best suits them offers the flexibility that consumers need and gives insurers a real opportunity to increase revenue and even diversify further still.
And that’s just the start. Creating an omnichannel approach using fintech is key to responding to changing customer needs and ensuring these needs are put first. Digital technology makes life easier for consumers, and they often have their own preferred method of dealing with service providers. Access to a basic website is no longer enough, people expect live online help, mobile apps, and more. Moreover, the adoption of fintech at policy level can enable insurers to use app technology to collect data (for example, vehicle or health insurance).
What’s next for fintech and the insurance industry?
The most successful insurers will be those that offer the fastest, most efficient customer journey all the way from the initial quote to full cover. If customers are able to choose and buy their insurance online, they don’t want it to take upwards of 60 clicks to get to the final, fully underwritten decision.
Insurers will need to offer a full omnichannel approach to meet customer demand for a connected experience across multiple channels. Consumers are used to being able to choose their preferred method, or methods, of interaction with retailers and service providers. They’re also used to being able to switch channels and continue the conversation or process seamlessly, without having to start again from the beginning.
There is still a long way to go, but there’s no doubt that the role of fintech in the insurance sector will continue to grow. Fostering a truly omnichannel approach to the way consumers buy insurance provides a vital way forward for the industry, and, ultimately, it will ensure more people are better protected.
Many view their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a kind of digital address book – a place to store commercial data and client information. But to view this valuable piece of technology in such a way is highly limiting, in reality a CRM’s capabilities exceed far beyond that.
by Matthew Harrison, Sales Director (Broker Channel), finova
Your CRM should be a dynamic feature of your business that saves you time and actually makes you money, for example in the retention of clients and by freeing up your diary of manual tasks so you can focus your efforts elsewhere. Ultimately, if you are spending more money on the system than you are earning from it, then you are probably not using it to its full potential.
A source of profitability
Matthew Harrison, Sales Director, finova
So, how can your CRM enhance profitability? Firstly, the way CRM software organises individuals’ records should give you a more accurate understanding of the client relationship, equipping you with important information to improve the productivity of conversations. But it can also work in more advanced ways. CRMs can analyse swathes of data, gathered from a wide range of sources, to give you an insight into how a client is feeling about your company. That can make it easier to anticipate potential issues and solve them before they arise. The data presented to you in digestible reports should help increase customer satisfaction, retention and, ultimately, profits.
Features within the CRM system, like management information, can also offer you more sales opportunities. The software can identify clients who may benefit from remortgaging, for example, or automatically send clients emails when their deals are about to come to an end. CRMs are excellent for spotting cross-sale opportunities too. This is because the technology can sift through client data to highlight those who may require further coverage. Who, for example, has taken out a mortgage but not protection? Who has both a mortgage and protection, but not general insurance? Your CRM can answer these questions for you, and help you improve your marketing and customer outreach. This is just one example of how automated processes within your CRM can open up new business opportunities.
Leads and referrals
CRMs are also a valuable tool for managing leads and referrals. There are tools that make it easier for introducers to refer new clients to you, while automatic commission notifications or updates regarding the status of introducers’ leads can help build a positive relationship. This software makes the referral process smoother and more profitable for introducers, improving general productivity. And better management of introducers equals more leads and higher profits.
Furthermore, CRMs are crucial if you wish to integrate referral programmes into your sales systems. Built-in referral options mean generated leads are sent directly to your CRM for servicing and management, and notifications are automatically sent to both the person referring and the person who has been invited. CRMs can also quote potential clients automatically so that they know how competitive your price is from the start. In this capacity, these tools can assist not only in generating more leads but in capitalising on leads too.
Data protection
Choosing the right CRM, however, is significant. It is especially important that due diligence is adhered to when picking a CRM. After all, it’s your data and your client’s data, so it needs to be secure. It is essential that you ensure the software is GDPR compliant, and that you understand where the data will be stored and how it will be secured. You should also determine how viable the CRM provider is: are they likely to go bust? If they do, what happens to your data? While company longevity is important, these worst-case scenarios should be accommodated.
Furthermore, the CRM should be the hub of your business, so choosing software which is easy to use is crucial. Especially for smaller firms, the CRM should be running much of the business for you and speeding up processes dramatically. Those which offer integrated third-party sourcing, for example, help cut down on re-keying. Automation within certain CRMs can ensure cases progress and prompt the sales team on crucial chase dates or events. Choosing the right CRM – with the automated features most appropriate for your business – will free up more time for you to focus on what matters to your business, such as giving great advice to clients.
CRMs are a vital tool that should be playing a central role in your business. If the right CRM is chosen, and if its features are deployed to maximum effect, then profitability will be demonstrably improved. To only use a CRM as an address book and not utilise its functions across your entire business is an extremely costly mistake to make. When used correctly, a CRM is an investment which not only pays for itself but unlocks additional channels of income for your business.
International trade is an important engine in driving inclusive economic growth. But the reality is that many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have trouble accessing affordable trade financing. With ESG at the forefront of everyone’s minds, making a societal impact that prioritises people and ensuring that entrepreneurs in developing countries are not left behind is important in creating a sustainable future for trade.
Trade finance facilitates the import and export of goods, a crucial part of how international trade and commerce happens. But for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—among the major contributors to jobs creation and economic development—this is where it gets complicated.
The biggest challenge to SME growth is access to finance. Addressing this is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to closing the $1.7 trillion trade finance gap, a gap that is even wider in developing markets. The availability and cost of credit make it hard for SMEs to finance their future, especially for those that are involved in international trade.
Women-led SMEs have an even harder time accessing trade finance. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates a $1.5 trillion finance gap for women-owned businesses in emerging markets. The IFC’s Banking on Women business has deployed scalable solutions with partners to enable the financial sector to better serve women-led SMEs. As of June 2021, it has mobilised and invested over $3 billion in financial institutions specifically to finance women-led businesses.
Larger global banks have traditionally looked past the SME segment, as the economics did not make sense. But this is changing: fintechs are making trade finance easier and more efficient, by simplifying, streamlining, and synchronising the data.
Advancing the digitalisation agenda for SMEs
The following are three ways that fintechs help advance the digitalisation agenda for SMEs.
First, for SMEs which need to import or export raw materials or finished products, there is an advantage in automating this process. Whether it’s the cost of acquisition of a customer or processing of information, fintechs can help consolidate and digitise the data for the bank to decide on risk levels.
As a fintech, we can get data into the bank more efficiently, allowing the bank to execute more transactions. If you think about it, the paper process for a $5 million transaction is almost the same as that of a $5,000 transaction.
For example, the Letter of Credit (LC) is one of the most traditional and complicated parts of the trade process. With four to seven players involved in the transaction, there are stacks of documents involved and a lack of transparency in the way LC transactions are conducted. By automating the process, the barriers to entry are lowered for SMEs and local banks.
Second, the accuracy of data is increased when the entire transaction is electronic. From the financier’s perspective, it provides better clarity on the documentation details. In addition, when this is done on the blockchain, the information can be verified earlier and consistently in the process, thus lowering the risk as well as the cost of processing.
Finally, internet accessibility is a way of democratising the data flow to banks and the financial system. With internet access already a key target for economies to achieve, unbanked SMEs or micro-SMEs can enhance their efficiencies by going online.
Designing a more equitable future
When it comes to the future, fintechs continue to innovate to ensure their ecosystem remains efficient for SMEs. There are existing services that can be digitised, as well as different services like guarantees and standby LCs. In addition, there are opportunities to pioneer new ways of managing data.
Designing the trade finance network of the future is a challenge but ensuring that SMEs are included is a crucial piece of the puzzle to help them be part of a future where they can survive and thrive.
“UK FinTech is in a great place,” said John Glen; the Economic Secretary to the Treasury as he announced measures last month to make the UK a global hub for crypto.
But the question is whether the actions promised by the UK Government will match the warm words he delivered to an audience of FinTech experts during the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London earlier this year.
If not, the UK’s leading position in crypto could be lost to more favourable jurisdictions.
Sentiment and perception
The UK is home to around 2,000 fintech companies; and London, a melting pot of entrepreneurial minds, financial expertise, investment capital, technology skills and regulators, is second only to the USA as the highest-ranked fintech ecosystem globally.
As part of that, the crypto sector is growing rapidly. One forecast suggests it will grow by more than 7% a year to be worth $2.2 billion by 2026. So, with a highly-skilled, tech-savvy workforce, attractive business and regulatory environments and a flexible labour market, the UK should be in a strong position to capitalise, with sophisticated jobs such as blockchain engineers and cryptocurrency developers.
But, so often in emerging sectors, sentiment can make an enormous difference in how people perceive things. Crypto entrepreneurs and investors – and the decisions they make – will be influenced significantly by the policymakers of the countries in which they do business.
Last month, the Governor of the Bank of England said that cryptocurrencies were the new “front line” in criminal scams, saying the technology created an “opportunity for the downright criminal.”
Contrast that with countries which are bending over backwards to welcome crypto entrepreneurs. Switzerland has perhaps gone the furthest passing blockchain laws and licensing two crypto banks, while Dubai is racing to become a haven for the global crypto industry by offering virtual asset licenses.
The US is making surges too, with President Biden recently ordering the most wide-reaching effort by the federal government to study and potentially regulate cryptocurrencies – an initiative that could see regulators closer to permitting spot cryptocurrency ETFs on the US markets.
In this context then, it’s not surprising that some commentators have suggested the Government’s moves to keep the UK as a leading global crypto hub lag behind many other nations.
The UK’s position
To attract companies, entrepreneurs and investors keen on crypto, the UK needs to commit to investment in a regulatory framework that fosters the national crypto economy and safeguards it without hindering innovation.
The most eye-catching of the Government’s announcements last month, at least as far as the headline writers were concerned, was commissioning the Royal Mint to produce an NFT which will be available by the summer. The Government heralded it “an emblem of their forward-looking approach.”
But beyond that, there were actually some positive moves. This month, the first of several meetings between industry leaders and the FCA, called “crypto sprints” will allow the industry to work with regulators to drive the shape of future regulation. They will also work on a project looking at the legal status of decentralized autonomous organisations (DAOs).
There are moves to look at existing laws governing electronic money which will be adapted to include stablecoins, bringing them within the remit of the FCA and thus paving the way for them to be used as a form of payment.
Finally, blockchain technology, a sector growing so rapidly that the UK simply cannot afford to ignore it. The UK government has announced it will explore the use of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs) in financial markets, create a financial markets infrastructure sandbox and consider using DLTs for sovereign debt instruments.
Welcome steps
From the emergence of Silicon Roundabout in the early noughties to the UK being a global tech powerhouse today – recently valued at more than $1 trillion – entrepreneurs, investors and industry have demonstrated their appetite to use the UK’s attractiveness to international talent and finance to transform it into a hub where nascent technologies and ideas can be transformed into world-class tech businesses.
Crypto is the next step in the UK’s continued growth in digital and technology, it is essential that a world-class infrastructure is built with regulation proportionate to the risk, to boost the modern 21st-century economy and allow crypto to thrive.
Open banking is coming up to the fourth year of PSD2 as a regulatory requirement in the UK. We can see the impact it has already had, and the predicted growth for the year to come. In addition, the pandemic has driven the growing demand for flexible financial services, and this has transformed how consumers and small businesses leverage their financial data.
As APIs continue to give financial institutions the ability to connect to both customers and businesses alike, security has become more important than ever. It is vital to evaluate the various measures that financial services need to adopt to thrive in a safe and secure way.
Carefully managing financial data has always been of the utmost importance for businesses. Failing to do so and leaving sensitive data to fall into the wrong hands can be critical for consumers, businesses, and banks. Financial-grade API security is paramount when it comes to exchanging data and financial information between institutions and third parties such as FinTech vendors and other partners.
Complexities of authenticating
It is important to have solid confidence in the users’ identity. This requires a Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) method, which generally translates to a high Level of Assurance. This is accomplished to some degree by using multi-factor authentication. Similarly essential, users must prove their identity as part of the registration and authentication process. To achieve this, the regulators require standards-based proven methods that ultimately result in a token (i.e., a ticket or memento) that encrypts and secures the identity of the user, their authentication method, and provides assurance that the user represented by that token really is who they say they are.
Users confirming consent
Authentication is important, but, alone, it isn’t enough. Open finance regulations are clear that users must consent to a business accessing certain data or performing an action such as creating a transaction. But it must also be possible for users to manage and even revoke their consent through an easy-to-use user management service.
Protecting users’ data
Securing and protecting users’ data can be a difficult task, but it’s a critical one in open banking. It takes a long time to develop trust – particularly when finances are involved – and it can be slashed in seconds if users lose confidence in a business’s ability to look after them and their data. As well as costing customers time, money, and resulting in extreme dissatisfaction, this can ruin a business’s reputation. Consequently, the safety of user data must be prioritised.
A blend of various procedures, frameworks and processes can be introduced to mitigate the risk of fraud, leaking or manipulating data and violating privacy. This is an opportunity to ensure consistent security practices are implemented across the board. Standards and directives such as PSD2 are designed to protect user data, as well as securing bank services. Businesses need to ensure they are investing in the right technology to adhere to these standards. By choosing solutions that automatically implement these specifications, businesses can reap the benefits of a secure customer database which will help improve the customer experience to build credibility and trust.
Prioritising skills
Businesses must also invest in their teams. It’s not enough to simply put protocols in place. Design and execution require a specific set of skills which, unfortunately, are high in demand and low in supply. Recent research commissioned by the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport found that half of businesses in the country (approx. 680,000) have a basic skills gap, lacking staff with the technical, incident response, and governance skills needed to manage their cyber security. Meanwhile, a third (approx. 449,000) are missing more advanced skills, such as penetration testing, forensic analysis, and security architecture.
Regardless of being essential – considerably more so as services are progressively digitalised, cybersecurity skills are often poorly understood and undervalued by both management boards and within IT teams. This can prompt a lack of investment in training, mishiring, and poor retention of staff in security roles. This only intensifies the challenge of building a team that possesses the requisite skills.
Hiring can be hard when there’s a deficiency of skills and abilities, so businesses need to be innovative. This means considering new recruitment avenues and, importantly, breaking free from the conventional model of what cyber security professionals look like. Curiosity is vital, so, for more junior roles especially, attitude should be a key qualification. Businesses should trust that many skills can be acquired on the job if the candidate has the essential fundamental knowledge and drive. To help with this, employers should provide training and mentorship.
The future is looking bright for financial services. The way banks do business and how consumers manage their financial transactions will continue to revolutionise. New opportunities and new practices are likely to arise meaning security remains an important factor to combat any future requirements.
As we continue to assess financial-grade security and authentication protocols, success will also rely heavily on expertise and know-how. The skills gap in security needs to be considered to ensure that flexible finance options within open banking and open finance can be utilised without compromising security. Businesses must ensure they are prioritising training for the team to close this skills gap and improve practices across the industry. There is a massive opportunity to push protocols and standards across the board, as it will not only help to ensure a high level of security but also makes skills more transferable in the long term.
While consumers’ online activity had seen steady growth for years, Covid-19 turbocharged this. In retail, internet transactions as a percentage of total sales hit a high of 38% in January 2021, against 20% before the pandemic, according to the ONS. Even a year later, with all restrictions lifted, they remain at 27%.
by Clare Beardmore, Head of Broker and Propositions, & Jodie White, Head of Product and Transformation, Legal & General Mortgage Club
Jodie White, Head of Product and Transformation, & Clare Beardmore, Head of Broker and Propositions, Legal & General Mortgage Club
Meanwhile, online banking was already well developed prior to Covid-19. More than three-quarters of adults in Britain used internet banking in the opening months of 2020. Yet open banking services have also witnessed rapid and massive growth over the past two years. January 2020 saw the number of customers using open banking in the UK pass one million. Nine months later, that doubled. Today, there are five million users.
There’s little doubt when it comes to the public’s appetite for digitally-enabled services. Among brokers, however, it’s been more mixed, and uptake varies widely.
But customer expectations are growing. Developments inside and outside the sector are leading to increased expectations for fast, smooth digital experiences. Customers increasingly demand solutions that will make their mortgage journey easier and quicker. And they want to be able to choose how to work with their broker.
Advisers that fail to offer a digital approach and communicate through online channels will only be restricting their ability to reach these customers. In this environment, the bar set by market leaders soon becomes the standard. Those who are yet to offer a range of digital communication channels risk hindering customer retention or may find themselves bogged down with administrative tasks, preventing them from doing what they do best: providing advice.
In short, a strong digital offering is becoming table stakes in the advice sector.
No need to reinvent the wheel
The good news, however, is that brokers don’t have to do this by themselves, and they don’t have to do everything. They’re not technology businesses after all.
Instead, brokers should avoid the gimmicks and look for technology that adds value for themselves and their customers. In most cases, they are one and the same: Technology that reduces inefficiencies in the mortgage process and friction cuts brokers’ costs, as well as the inconvenience and delay for clients.
Any serious adoption of technology must focus on the impact on the end customer. Consequently, a serious examination of existing technology cannot do better than begin with customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Customer relationship management is critical to the client’s journey. It plays a central role in capturing and managing borrower information and streamlining the loan process. Its importance has meant that a wide range of robust existing systems is currently available. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel – nor even to invest; Legal and General’s Mortgage Club, for instance, provides certain members with free licenses to the Smartr365 technology platform, which includes a comprehensive set of CRM tools.
By automating tasks, eliminating effort, and providing workflows to accelerate the mortgage process, CRM systems are critical to meeting modern customer expectations. However, they can’t and don’t aim to replace the broker.
The human touch
For advice, the human factor is still vital. That’s reflected in the continued dominance of intermediaries in lending. Over seven in ten buyers used an adviser for their most recent purchase. With borrowers facing a sustained rise in interest rates for the first time in a decade, and finances squeezed by rising inflation and a cost of living crisis, that’s not going to change.
CRM technology, however, can boost efficiency and free time for brokers to spend working with clients to find the best solutions. It also promotes continued engagement to enhance retention.
Rather than replacing the broker’s expertise, the technology enhances advice by enabling advisers to apply their knowledge more effectively. To give one example, intuitive checks built into an affordability calculator share a far more complete picture by revealing why certain inbound leads might be failing. That allows intermediaries to offer better-tailored advice to customers.
Crucially, the technology must serve the advice journey, not determine it. The way to avoid that is to integrate digital capabilities in a wider transformation journey focused on using the tools available to meet customer needs and support advice. To do so, brokers must embrace technology, as their customers already have done.
Those that don’t could be bringing the next crisis on themselves.
The banking industry has undergone huge change in recent years, and so too have its players. As such, the time-honoured classifications of ‘incumbent’, ‘challenger’ and ‘neobank’ no longer sufficiently describe a bank’s offering, role or position in the industry; arguably some incumbents are proving to take more ‘challenging’ strategies than some of their comparatively younger challenger or neobanks. So how will banks be defined in the future?
Rivo Uibo, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Tuum
by Rivo Uibo, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Tuum
The evolution of banking is partly in response to an underlying shift in the way that people live and work and the demand across diverse demographics for more tailored banking services. Freelance workers have different banking needs to employees; the needs of Gen Z customers, such as saving money and managing subscriptions (including Spotify, Netflix etc.) are far removed from those of older generations. In essence, to prosper in today’s banking industry, banks must now find a means of being relevant to diverse customer demands and desires and provide these banking services in the most convenient way.
In tandem with this trend, the advent of embedded finance, open banking and APIs together with the rise of new entrants to the market including tech giants and superapps and demand aggregators (brands that provide financial services on top of their core offerings such as Alipay, Uber payments or Gusto wallet), are adding further complexity to the banking landscape and the number and diversity of players.
Banks are therefore under pressure to maintain market share and are looking at different approaches to achieve this. Let’s look at the different business strategies that banks are pursuing today and where these business models are likely to lead to.
High street banks
Even before the pandemic, high street banks were ramping up their digital offerings and reducing their number of branches. But in the wake of the pandemic and soaring demand for digital banking, high street banks face strong competition from online-only banks. As a result, they have radically reduced their number of branches; according to a report by Which? published in December 2021, almost 5000 UK bank branches had closed since 2015 or were set to close in 2022.
That being said, In the UK, high street banks offering personal and business banking (including RBS, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC) are still regarded as the market leaders and mainstays of the industry. Only time will tell if their (albeit reduced) in-person banking services and industry standing will be enough to survive heightened competition from their more nimble digital counterparts. In the meantime, these mainstream banks will be closely analysing the options open to them to maintain customer share (greater focus on digital/focus on other market segments).
Digital banks
These forward-thinking, online-only banks provide banking services that fully reap the efficiency benefits of modern technological capabilities. Leading digital banks currently include the likes of Monzo, Nubank and N26. These large players, which started out as ambitious neobanks, have succeeded in gaining a sizeable customer base through innovative, digital service offerings. N26 is today one of the most valued banks in Germany and is aiming to be one of the biggest retail banks in Europe (without having a single branch) while Nubank boasts 40 million customers in Brazil.
Aside from these larger successful players, many digital banks tend to be niche players, laser-focused on the banking needs of one specific customer group. These financial service providers are made up of both those who have their own licence and those that depend on other banks or banking platforms for their licence – but both are perceived equally by end-users as ‘digital banks’. Their strategy is to gain maximum traction within their target customer segment and then expand and enhance their service offerings. A great example of a niche digital bank is Jefa, a LATAM bank set up by women for women, offering free accounts, a debit card, and a mobile app to assist money management. With the defaults of banking in LATAM broadly hostile to women customers, Jefa is making headway in a giant untapped market that has been ignored by other banks. Another good example is New York-based Daylight, a digital bank that offers services specifically tailored to meet the needs and assist with the financial challenges of LGBTQ+ people and their families.
Notably, as long as a financial institution is fully regulated and users’ money is protected, customers are beginning to show less loyalty for long-standing banks and are increasingly motivated by innovative services and excellent customer experience from digital banks. The rise of platform players – in the form of next-generation core banking and BaaS platforms are playing a key role in enabling digital banks to quickly roll out new tailored banking services and driving innovation in everyday banking.
Multifaceted banks
These banks succeed in functioning in multiple modes; they successfully provide banking services directly to their own diverse customer base while also opening up their infrastructure to provide the technology and licence to third parties.
Goldman Sachs is a key example of such a bank today. It launched a consumer banking brand, Marcus, in 2016, together with a new transaction banking unit, which amassed $97 billion and $28 billion in deposits by 2020 respectively. Goldman Sachs opens up the underlying infrastructure that powers Marcus and its transaction banking unit to external third parties as well, such as Stripe or Apple. By leveraging both its balance sheet and regulatory expertise as well as a modern platform, it is an attractive embedded banking partner for large sticky brands.
Starling Bank is another (online) bank that together with providing award-winning digital banking services to its own customers (it has been voted Best British Bank in the British Bank Awards for the last four years), it also offers its own infrastructure to other banks and fintechs in order for them to roll out financial services.
As embedded finance and the rollout of financial services by non-banks takes off, banks that can offer their infrastructure and banking licences will become increasingly in demand.
Only time will tell exactly what the banking landscape will look like in the future but what is very clear is that the age-old classifications of banks need reconsidering. And in order to survive and thrive banks themselves need to decide what path to take. We are entering a stage in the evolution of the sector where there is no clear roadmap for a given incumbent or a given challenger bank. Each individual bank needs to assess its strengths and ambitions and re-evaluate its strategy to carve out its own place in the industry.
The growing demand for personalised and relevant services will mean that only a minority of banks will be able to operate on multiple levels because it is hard for a bank to be everything to everybody. In the meantime, advances in banking technology and the growth of platform players supporting digital banks will enable this segment to further expand and diversify while the banks that serve both their own customers and support other third party banks and fintechs will help to drive competition and bring about more choice and more options for customers in the future.
As nations worldwide continue to sanction Russia in condemnation of their invasion of Ukraine, companies have now joined the movement to exclude the Russian government – and sometimes Russians – from their list of clients. Some of these companies have decided to ban them following international sanction provisions from The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Others have taken this decision as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people. However, not all FinTech companies are placing blanket boycotts on Russian citizens. The most notable holdouts are Binance and Kraken, citing the argument that banning “innocent Russians” goes against the philosophy behind cryptocurrencies.
So, let’s go through the reactions of fintech companies to the Russian invasion and explore how they affect the socio-economic climate in Russia and the rest of the world.
SWIFT
As pressure mounted on SWIFT to respond to the Russian invasion, the payment network obliged by suspending 7 major Russian banks from performing transactions indefinitely. The ban stops these Russian banks from accessing their global economic resources, but the country has outlined measures to combat the hard-hitting impacts of the SWIFT suspension. In anticipation of incoming economic sanctions, the Russian government developed SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages) — a SWIFT equivalent that works only in Russia and some banks in Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, and Belarus.
Russia now has to rely on China’s more formidable Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) for international transactions.
VISA
According to Statista, VISA owns 12% of all credit payment cards in the world (335 million credit cards), accounting for about 50% of the overall market shares. The company reacted to the Russian invasion by halting all its operations within Russia and banning Russian VISA cardholders from processing transactions.
According to VISA’s official statement, the company is ‘taking prompt action to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions, and is prepared to comply with additional sanctions that may be implemented’. The VISA Foundation has also donated a $2 million grant to the US Fund for UNICEF to provide the Ukrainian people with humanitarian aid.
Mastercard
Mastercard has maintained the same ironclad stance as VISA on the Russian invasion. The credit card company has reportedly forfeited about 4% of potential revenue by excluding Russians from its services.
Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach released a statement saying that the company has ceased operations in Russia, as well as banned certain Russian banks from the payment network. Miebach also affirms that the company has sent a $2 million humanitarian fund to the Red Cross, Save the Children, and employee assistance.
Amex
American Express has also joined the ranks of Visa and Mastercard in suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus. According to a memo from American Express CEO Stephen J. Squeri, the cards issued in Russian territory will no longer work in Russia or outside the country. As part of Amex’s “Do What is Right” code, the company has pledged $1 million to humanitarian organizations to provide relief to people in Ukraine affected by the war.
Source: Mykhailo Fedorov (Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation) on Twitter
PayPal
PayPal has also halted all operations in Russia until further notice. Dan Schulman, PayPal CEO, released a statement saying: “PayPal supports the Ukrainian people and stands with the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine. The tragedy taking place in Ukraine is devastating for all of us, wherever we are in the world.” He goes on to add that despite banning Russians from using PayPal’s services, the company will still provide support for Russian citizens within its workforce.
Payoneer
Payoneer’s reaction was to stop all issuance of cards to customers with postal or residential addresses within the Russian Federation. According to the company’s updated FAQs, Russian citizens with Payoneer cards issued outside Russia can still conduct transactions without restrictions.
Upwork
In an open letter to freelancers, Upwork CEO Hayden Brown reiterated the company’s mission to help improve people’s lives. As a result, with over 4% of registered freelancers from Russia and Belarus, Upwork has suspended operations and has shut down support for new business generation in both countries. To this end, the changes will take full effect on 1 May 2022, leaving freelancers and clients in Russia and Belarus unable to create new accounts, initiate new contracts, and appear in searches. The platform also donated $1 million to Direct Relief International to support Ukrainian citizens caught up in the war.
Revolut
As a company with a Ukrainian co-founder Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut has provided unwavering support for Ukrainians suffering from the war. The current CEO Nikolay Storonsky, born in Russia to a Ukrainian father, released an open letter, categorically condemning the war, saying that ‘this war is wrong and totally abhorrent’ and that ‘…not one more person should die in this needless conflict’.
In a statement titled The War on Ukraine: Our Response, Revolut has affirmed its dedication to uphold and impose sanctions placed on Russia. As part of its support to Ukraine, Revolut has removed transfer fees for every transaction going into the country. The company has also pledged to match every donation made to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal.
Stripe
Although Stripe does not work in Ukraine, Russia, or Belarus, the financial services and SaaS company has pledged to impose sanctions on the Russian government and its citizens. The extent of this ban will cover transactions using the Mir payment system, as well as services linked directly or indirectly with the Crimea and the separatist Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Paysera
Paysera has released a comprehensive list of financial restrictions on Russia and its allies involved in the Ukrainian invasion:
Russian citizens will no longer be able to use Paysera (this restriction does not apply to Russian citizens with residency or work permits in other supported countries).
All current accounts belonging to Russians will be closed.
Russian and Belarusian companies are banned from using their Paysera accounts.
All current business accounts belonging to Russian and Belarusian entities will be closed.
Transactions to Russian and Belarusian banks between private individuals will continue but must go through rigorous verification procedures.
Paysera will roll back all money transfers from Russian and Belarusian banks received on Monday (23 February and later).
Paysera users can no longer exchange to Russian Roubles (RUB).
This list is only one part of the extensive regulation changes for Russian citizens and banks. For more information, read the entire press release.
Apple (Apple Pay) and Google (Google Pay)
Apple and Google set rivalries aside to impose a collective ban on the Russian government and its citizens for their actions in Ukraine. According to NPR, Apple will stop shipping products to Russia with immediate effect. This announcement sent shockwaves around the tech world because of the company’s global influence.
In the same vein, Google has also removed media platforms RT and Sputnik from its services, banning their content within EU countries.
But that’s not even half of it. Apple has furthered its crackdown on Russia by deactivating its payment service Apple Pay in the region – 29% of Russians rely on Apple Pay for contactless payments. Similar to Apple, Google Pay (used by 20% of Russians) has also ceased all digital payments by Russian citizens within occupied territories.
Money transfer services
According to Statista, the value of cross-border money transfers made by Russians in 2020 were worth over $40 billion, which is by almost $8 billion less than in 2018. In 2022, however, this sum is likely to be much lower taken the situation with the money transfer services that are leaving the Russian market.
Western Union
On 10 March 2022, Western Union issued a press release announcing that all the company’s operations in Russia and Belarus will be suspended with immediate effect. For the people of Ukraine, Western Union has created a donation portal to address the humanitarian and refugee crisis, according to Elizabeth Executive Director of the Western Union Foundation.
The money transfer company has pledged $500 000 to provide humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people. To donate to the Western Union Foundation, visit its official website.
Wise
Before the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian war, Wise (formerly TransferWise) had already placed a $200 limit for Russian account owners. With the current swathe of sanctions, the remittance and payments company has doubled down on its restriction for individuals and businesses within the Russian Federation and its (illegally) occupied territories.
Find a detailed breakdown of the restrictions according to the company’s Help Centre below:
You can only send RUB to private bank accounts or cards in Russia.
You cannot send RUB to government agencies in Russia.
You cannot send RUB to Crimea or Sevastopol.
You cannot send USD or EUR to accounts in Russia.
MoneyGram
According to Quartz, MoneyGram still works both in Ukraine and Russia since the sanctioned banks — Sberbank (Russian) and VTB — are not involved in the transactions directly. This same report also shows that, on the first day of the invasion, US-based remittances to Ukraine spiked 120%, while the number rose to 50% in Russia. Nevertheless, MoneyGram has removed all fees on transfers going to Ukraine from the US, Canada, and EU.
Remitly
Remitly is a P2P service that allows immigrants to send money across borders. Since the company’s core demographics (immigrants) are closely aligned to the plight of Ukrainian refugees, it is no surprise that tit has also banned Russia. Remitly, through a spokesperson, has communicated its dedication to upholding this ban according to the EU and US sanctions.
Source: World Remit on Twitter
Zepz (WorldRemit)
Zepz, formerly WorldRemit, has released a list of countries on its banned list, including Russia and Belarus. The company also released an updated list of transaction conditions, showing that Russia is on the blocklist until further notice.
“The Big Four”
Members of the Big Four — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PwC — have also enforced the sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and EU nations. At the time of compiling this report, the aforementioned companies are not in a hurry to impose blanket sanctions on all Russian citizens since a combined 1.1% (around 13000 people) of their global workforce is in Russia.
Deloitte’s Global CEO Punit Renjen said: “Last week, Deloitte announced it was reviewing its business in Russia. We will separate our practice in Russia and Belarus from the global network of member firms. Deloitte will no longer operate in Russia and Belarus.”
Mark Walters, KPMG’s Global Head of Communications, said: “KPMG has over 4,500 people in Russia and Belarus, and ending our working relationship with them, many of whom have been a part of KPMG for many decades, is incredibly difficult.”
Mike Davies, PwC’s Director of Global Corporate Affairs and Communications, PwC UK, said: “As a result of the Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine, we have decided that, under the circumstances, PwC should not have a member firm in Russia and consequently PwC Russia will leave the network.”
EYreleased a statement that said: “Today, EY global organisation decided that the Russian practice will continue working with clients as an independent group of audit and consulting companies that are not part of the EY global network. The changes will take effect after the required transition period.”
Source: Mykhailo Fedorov on Twitter
The crypto world
Although the major players in FinTech are equivocal in their condemnation and boycott (full or partial) of Russia, the crypto community maintains partial neutrality. The overarching sentiment within the world of crypto is that private citizens should not suffer due to the actions of their governments. After all, some of these individuals might be using cryptocurrencies to oppose tyrannical regimes.
Notwithstanding, the Russian Central Bank has proposed a ban on mining and trading cryptocurrencies. With Russia occupying third place among Bitcoin mining regions globally, the impacts on the value and volatility of the crypto market might be extensive.
On its part, Ukraine has also used crypto assets to fund its defence against Russian aggression. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has also posted wallet addresses for the Ukrainian Army and Civil Defense support.
Source: Jesse Powell on Twitter
Kraken
CEO of Kraken, Jesse Powell released a Twitter thread in response to the Ukrainian Prime Minister’s call on crypto exchanges to block addresses of all Russian users. In the thread, he expresses regret for the appalling conditions Ukraine finds itself in at the hands of its aggressive neighbours. However, he insists that the company cannot blanket-ban citizens ‘without a legal requirement’ to do so.
Binance
Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, released a detailed statement refuting claims that ‘Binance doesn’t apply sanctions’. He expressed that Russian individuals banned by US and EU sanction regulations are not allowed to trade on Binance.
KuCoin
KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu also refuses to freeze the accounts of Russian users, unless there is a legal precedent to do so on a case-by-case basis.In a statement to CNBC, the CEO expressed KuCoin’s stance on the issue: “As a neutral platform, we will not freeze the accounts of any users from any country without a legal requirement. And at this difficult time, actions that increase the tension to impact the rights of innocent people should not be encouraged.”
Source: Brian Armstrong on Twitter
Coinbase
According to Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, the company has blocked over 25000 accounts linked with “illicit activity” with the Russian government and its allies. While the crypto exchange is dedicated to helping the Ukrainians, they refused to freeze the assets of ‘ordinary Russians’.
Nevertheless, Coinbase has implemented measures to monitor attempts by sanctioned individuals to evade the restrictions. The crypto exchange will also follow recommendations that align with government recommendations, provided they don’t interfere with individual rights.
Adyen
Although the Ayden network does not work in either Russia or Ukraine, the company has decided to offer humanitarian help to the victims of the ongoing invasion. Adyen’s policy decisions include:
Blocking sanctioned banks and private entities
Suspending US and EU processing services in Russia, Crimea, and the separatist regions in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Suspending transaction processing in Russian rubles (RUB) regardless of issuing country.
To the Ukrainian people, Adyen has pledged humanitarian support through Adyen Giving and other charities like the UNCHR Disaster Relief Fund, Giro 555, and the Red Cross.
Mintos
The loan management platform Mintos has removed loans from Russian and Ukrainian lending platforms as a ‘cautionary measure’ to protect lenders from the unprecedented repercussions of the invasion. As part of the Mintos Conservative Strategy, the company will uphold these restrictions until the conflict stabilises – or ends.
eToro
When eToro announced that it would be force-liquidating Magnit PJSC stocks (and other related Russian stocks), they probably didn’t expect such a massive amount of pushback from users who had equities in these companies. As a result of the criticism and public outcry, the company refunded all affected parties, except for leverage stakes. Despite the earlier wave of backlash, eToro is still considering what to do with nine other stocks from the country, including Sberbank of Russia, Rosneft (RNFTF), Gazprom, and Lukoil.
Conclusion
The Russo-Ukrainian war has plunged the entire financial sector into a new reality, which follows post-pandemic inflation. We are now witnessing an unprecedented situation – financial institutions and FinTech companies are reacting in real-time to impose sanctions and boycotts on Russia and its citizens. Numerous companies that aren’t obliged by law or sanctions have taken the initiative to leave the Russian market. These decisions cost each of them a significant part of revenue, yet they demonstrate the willingness to pay this price in order to help stop the war.
FinTech is synonymous with innovation and is a key industry in this country. Its influence spans the globe, however, and makes it a primary player in the move towards greater financial and environmental sustainability.
by Keith Tully, Real Business Rescue, a company insolvency and restructuring expert.
Corporate social responsibility has been a pivotal business model for decades, but the 2021 COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow clarified the urgency to act with purpose and laid out in stark detail the consequences for the planet if we don’t.
The FinTech industry is ideally placed to use its prominent standing on the global stage, therefore, and positively influence the crucial issues we face. It can set a ‘green’ example for others to follow, ensuring businesses adopt sustainable practices and leading the way towards a lower-carbon future for industries across the board.
How can Fintech businesses take a stand on sustainability?
Operate a ‘green’ supply chain
Fintech’s inherent use of big data, artificial intelligence, and real-time information, makes the industry a perfect role model when implementing environmentally friendly and sustainable logistical practices.
Transparency and collaboration between supply chain members is a necessity for a ‘green’ supply chain to work, and this ultimately reduces waste and increases cost-effectiveness for all participants.
Develop ‘green’ technologies
The industry continues to provide cutting-edge solutions that streamline and modernise financial procedures and payment systems, and can positively influence corporate behaviours.
Brand reputation strengthens when businesses use innovative financial technologies – they become trustworthy within their industry and in the eyes of the wider community. The investment in ‘green’ solutions consolidates the drive for sustainability and enables ethical conduct and business behaviours to be put in place.
Innovative banking and payment solutions
The banking and payments industries have transitioned, almost beyond recognition, in the last few decades. Although the ‘traditional’ high street banking services are still available, the development of new financial technologies has created a thoroughly modern alternative for businesses and individuals.
The Fintech industry has developed highly sophisticated, cost-effective, and sustainable banking and payment systems that help businesses reduce their carbon footprint. Blockchain is one such example, and this provides a platform that supports other technologies such as new payment and finance solutions.
Data analytics
Big data provides in-depth perspective and insight into various areas of business and offers key decision-makers a solid foundation for making strategic plans. It can also be used to keep a business on track towards financial and environmental sustainability.
Global financial services group, BBVA, uses technology to help organisations calculate their carbon footprint using data analytics, for example. Businesses can calculate their carbon footprint and then register on The Carbon Footprint Registry.
The ‘Climate Registered’ seal placed on their websites and promotional materials demonstrates the business’ commitment to sustainability, and to reducing their carbon footprint.
Make sustainability the USP
Adopting good practices and promoting financial and environmental sustainability enables Fintech companies to differentiate themselves, and to stand out in an increasingly crowded industry.
Making sustainability their unique selling point within a ‘Green Fintech’ umbrella of innovative technologies and working practices reiterates the drive to help tackle climate change whilst promoting a sense of purpose and well-being among staff.
Sustainable financial products
Figures published by Statista show how significantly Fintech solutions have changed the way in which we bank and carry out our financial business as a nation.
In 2007, only 30 per cent of banking customers regularly used digital banking services, a figure that has risen to 76 per cent in 2020. Personal finance budgeting and investment apps also help people achieve their own individual goals for sustainability.
Fintech businesses can measure and verify the impact of sustainable financial products, such as ‘green’ bonds, loans, and investment funds, and make adjustments as necessary to improve the products.
The case for taking a stand on financial and environmental sustainability
The positive case for taking a stand on sustainability is clear. It’s what is needed if we are to head off total climate catastrophe. This movement also holds significant benefits for individual businesses in terms of their reputation and place in the community, however.
Sustainability is an issue close to people’s hearts, and staff can rally around such a cause. This increases morale and creates an inclusive working environment that promotes well-being and productivity.
Apart from the key benefit of creating a more sustainable operating environment for businesses within the industry, Fintech’s considerable influence could also affect far-reaching change in other industries.
In fact, Fintech is in the perfect position to lead on financial and environmental sustainability. Introducing new ‘green’ financial products and creative payment systems not only helps other businesses on a practical level, but also sets the high environmental and financial sustainability standards that we need, and that others will follow.
