Fire & Ice: The Internet and Financial Services in Australia July 16, 2009

The Fire: Web 2.0

Everyday more and more internet technology lines the virtual shelf, the Internet is just about 5000 days old and look at all this great stuff we have for free. I mean 5 years ago who would have thought we would have instant access to satellite images of the whole earth, a body of general knowledge 25 times as large as the Encyclopedia Britannica, the ability to find and reconnect with long lost childhood friends in a matter of minutes and all of it as free as the air you breathe. This technology is quickly becoming more and more mainstream, the once product differentiating online store, is rapidly sliding down the Kano model into the realm of basic unspoken needs, faster then we’ve ever witnessed before.

The Ice: Financial Services Industry in Australia

Despite all these advancements there are still too few examples of Australian organisations, let alone Financial Services organisations, that have successfully employed the Internet in a way that has revolutionised their industry. Most industries have applied the internet as primarily a Promotion and Sales channel, attempting to push a product message through advertising or to capture sales via online storefronts. These approaches, successful in their own right  have improved operational efficiencies and have enabled organisations to reach their target segments with more precision then ever before.

However, they have not done much more then to move existing customers that were previously serviced by mass media and physical storefronts, to online mediums and e-storefronts. Further on this point, now that these sorts of services have become market entry requirements in our industry for our customers, is it really making a dramatic difference to our bottom line when we compare it to traditional methods of doing business?

I believe we are yet to see the revolutionary power of the Internet melt away the coldness of our financial services industry.

Do you agree? Do you disagree?  If you have some thoughts please leave me your comments, I’m still developing my overall thoughts for my paper and I would love to hear your input.

As Always Yours Faithfully, D