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IN AN EFFORT TO CONSTANTLY IMPROVE BANKING FOR THEIR CLIENTS NOW, AND IN THE FUTURE, VALUER HELPS ABN AMRO EXPLORE THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM FOR INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
Finance
Enterprise (>18,000 employees Q2 2020)
Headquartered in Amsterdam, NetherlandsABN AMRO is a leading bank headquartered in the Netherlands with a wide presence in Northwest Europe and active in specific markets internationally. With a history dating back more than three centuries, ABN AMRO has become a key financial player in Europe. Headquartered in Amsterdam, ABN AMRO provides banking and other financial services to retail, private and corporate clients.
The final business model profiles that came out were very insightful because they were rich compared to what you see in regular databases or data providers.
LAURENS HAMERLINCK
Innovation Partnerships Lead
ABN AMRO'S DEDICATION TOWARDS INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY
Since the global financial crisis in 2008, societal expectations of banks have changed. Trust in banks got a big hit. More recently, banks are expected to be more committed towards climate change and the international development agenda. Furthermore, technology has fundamentally changed banking. Most clients are expecting 24/7 banking anywhere in the world. As such, banks need to accelerate digitization and reinvent themselves to cope with the new reality that finance has become a digital industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in the industry and is just one major example of disruption leading to a slowdown in manufacturing and various other sectors.
To remain relevant and responsible, now and in the future, ABN AMRO has defined a clear purpose: ‘banking for better, for generations to come’. In order for this purpose to become a reality, ABN AMRO has taken the initiative to discover innovative value propositions that provide further insight into tackling the ongoing challenge of rapid innovation and continuous change.
KEEPING UP WITH THE FINTECH REVOLUTION
Laurens Hamerlinck, Innovation Partnerships Lead at ABN AMRO, is constantly on the lookout for partnerships that bring synergies to the company’s innovation portfolio and enhance their innovation capacity. He realizes that the technology age we currently live in is an important opportunity for the company.
Laurens states, “In the midst of the fintech boom in 2015, we started to experiment with several companies to see how we could make startup-corporate collaboration work and how we can leverage external technology for the benefit of innovation and accelerating digital transformation. A successful collaboration will accelerate innovation benefitting our clients, but also improve and scale the startup’s value proposition.”
WORKFLOW WITH A HOLISTIC APPROACH
The financial services industry is currently experiencing the rapid emergence of new technology innovations and process disruptions. Many within this industry, small and large, are looking for new innovative pathways to successful business models, enhanced customer service, and service transformation. As such, significant opportunities are waiting to be discovered if financial institutions take a more inclusive approach to future partnerships and collaborations.
Laurens highlights his experience in working together with Valuer by stating, “Valuer combines a database, startup lists, and crowdsourcing while training an algorithm based on ABN AMRO’s own input. Interestingly, the Valuer output was at first a confirmation of our own research. Next to that, its holistic approach added new angles to our understanding of the new industry we were targeting. The final business model profiles that came out were very insightful because they were rich compared to what you see in regular databases or data providers.”
This feedback response demonstrates that an AI-backed, data-driven approach is crucial for searching for relevant opportunities. Discovering relevant new business models that are catered specifically for the company’s mission is imperative. By ensuring that your organization can harness the Fintech Revolution will you successfully embrace innovation and circumvent the effects of future disruptions.
