We’re building a bank that doesn’t really look like any of the incumbents. Responsible banking beyond anything you’ve ever experienced, we’ll make managing your finances effortless and empowering. We believe it’s time for people to enter into a more open relationship with their money. One where managing finances isn’t a limited, solitary experience.
DBL will not just be any other bank, but a bank truly fit for how we live our lives today. We’re building a bank that will champion the power of modern technology to open up possibilities and create a whole new way of banking. All through transparency, collaboration and connectivity. A world-class experience, delivering much more than a brick-and-mortar and a cash card, to make managing your finances effortless and empowering.
The players here are well known. Defined, and some would say hampered, by their history and, in most cases, their mainstream presence. Legacy systems restrict innovation, and large customer bases restrict the ability to expand quickly to meet evolving customer expectations. We are not sure this is where you would start if you really wanted to create a new and agile player likely to introduce some true competition.
That said, there was much expectation set at the launch of players, but little delivery beyond making slightly better what was annoying customers – faster account opening, branch hours more reflective of a busy, urban audience, and some small product innovation.
DBL will offer the country value through both our economic contribution as well as the employment opportunities and business growth of UK Businesses. Building a stronger and safer financial system should be a key part of the government’s long term plan to provide economic security for working people, which is why an 'independent' Bank of England must put back at the centre of ensuring emerging risks to financial stability are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.
We are making bold decisions – embracing innovative approaches in our quest to broaden participation in the formal financial system, increase financial stability, and contribute to put the country on the path to inclusive, sustainable economic growth. If banks and other financial institutions are to perform their crucial role in providing support for growth and employment, it is imperative that they take steps to regain the public’s trust.
So one of the key questions we get asked is why we are bothering to apply for a banking licence? And the answer is simple.
For the time being, the word ‘bank’ is still the frame of reference that people look to in terms of where to securely keep and manage their money. Alongside this, there is still an element of trust that comes with the increased regulatory supervision imposed on the banks. Most importantly of course, it provides the maximum available protection for customers’ money, with balances being underwritten by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
As we come on to some of the disaggregated products hitting the market, there is a common misconception that this means money is protected in the same way. And of course, whilst they are regulated, the same level of protection isn’t offered.
The simplest way to think about the core of new market entrants is that they will effectively replicate the full set of products and services a traditional retail bank has, just through all or a subset of digital channels. Necessary branch based services (e.g. paying in cash or cheques) will still be offered, but via a third party arrangement.
That’s not to say this reference to the traditional product set is a bad thing in any way. Customers still frame their decision around the core set of products that have existed for many years. And the advantage all of these players have is in building the majority of their systems for current market requirements, enabling them to both avoid the sins of the past and hopefully deliver genuine innovation in customer experience.
Some are specialising based on audience – Others are focusing more on the small business audience; Some believe there is untapped potential with foreign nationals, but the majority still see the advantage in servicing a broad base of customers.
We believe there is an opportunity to go further than just replicating a full set of current banking products, and focus on delivering an exceptional, world-class experience for the core customer need of money management, by building a single, best in class, banking products and services.
As highlighted, why do customers have multiple products that do slightly different shades of the same thing? The mental accounting piece aside (because that can be solved in other ways), it’s because banks have spent years telling customers they need them. And why? Because selling (and it was selling) complex products, with opaque charging models made really good commercial sense!
Of course, like all new players, we will be looking to right the many wrongs proliferated by the category. But in focusing on a single product build, all of our investment in the customer experience will be concentrated on the things customers need and use the most.
The grouping of brands that have the greatest potential to cause customer confusion have to be the pre-paid debit cards.
Many are calling themselves a “bank”, without needing or possessing a banking licence, and/or promoting their products and services, without offering the full spectrum of benefits customers have come to associate with this nomenclature. Or at least certainly not offering the same level of free banking as is currently offered by the retail banks.
Now this may lead to a greater level of transparency for the sector overall. As one of the brands quite rightly claims, no banking is truly free in the UK, as all businesses need to make money somewhere. The danger though is that currently, many of the players in this space are a viable offer for those that can’t pass the credit scoring required for a full product and service offering with the banks, and would rather have the additional benefits offered (although at a cost) beyond historical “basic” bank accounts. Whilst transparent in terms of charging, we would argue that customers will pay a premium to go via this route. For some it is worth the monthly cost – for those without credit history or credentials, the security of a BoE regulatory and the absence of overdraft facilities is irrelevant. It is better to have a card than no card at all. However, it is sad that the people who least afford services sometimes pay the most and social inclusion in the financial system remains a challenge.
As payments and mobile technology evolves, some would argue whether you need a card at all. As NFC technology advances, secure mobile or wearables payments should become the norm.
The two biggest barriers in the UK currently are the roll-out of technology at the merchant end, with many terminals still not taking contactless, let alone mobile, and there are still large populations of customers for whom security is a concern.
Of course services such PayPal, and others like ApplePay, Google Wallet, and Amazon offering a digital wallet still ultimately need to be “funded” from somewhere or only currently house existing, traditional card details. But what are the barriers in the future to them to create their own cards and / or fully-fledged bank accounts?
When this happens, markets such as the pre-paid cards will cease to exist, forcing those brands to evolve or die.
Whilst a much smaller market, international payments has not remained static either, with household names leading the charge to take business away from what it says are the cost prohibitive bank services.
We wouldn’t rule out the old school Western Union and Money Gram however, who still benefit from large volumes of usage by foreign nationals, and are looking at their own innovation to stay relevant in a digital age.
Finally, it will be interesting to see what happens in the lending space after the flurry of new entrants including over 1,000s of financial institutions and companies post-Brexit and market disaggregation in recent years. With much regulatory focus on the consumer finance sector, savings and loans and alternative lending companies, we may see some contraction here.
What will be interesting is to see who in the growing peer-to-peer and other alternative lending space is really set to weather any sort of storm (touch lots of wood that we won’t see a financial crisis like what has happened in 2007/8 anytime soon). Our attractive rates are sure to bring in the savers and clients who seek extreme value, in an environment of offensive interest rates everywhere else. But as rates start to rise, how much of a return will customers be willing to trade off for their Bank of England protection?
Our preference for a family-owned (not necessarily family-managed) & independent private bank suits our unique business model to guarantee the level of service we seek to provide. The DCANS Group has many growing businesses in the area of finance, investment, retail and property sector and views the ownership of a Bank as a natural progression - to be managed with the financial conservatism (not necessarily risk averse) that has been the hallmark of the group.
Unique corporate structure of unlimited liability partnerships, where the group's wealth is completely aligned to customers - an added incentive for vigilance. A model that will also offer clients a far more sophisticated range of products, including access to investment banking operations. Family ownership helps to bring a long-term perspective on running any stable bank, as has been demosntrated by Itaú, the 10th largest bank in the world in terms of market value.
Many CEOs of banks have a three year life expectancy, no personal liability, and most don’t really care about the long-term prospects of the bank. Maximizing short-term profit seem top on the agenda for most as well, which has led to multiple mis-selling scandals, episodes of money laundering(over $321 billion has been paid in fines and penalties by some of the global household bank names since the 2007/8 financial crisis through 2016) and rigging of benchmarks(libor).
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