According to “Startup the Bank” study on startups whose solutions transform the Polish banking sector, not only traditional fintech companies stand the chance of becoming banks’ technological partners and after a successful pilot project, 7 out of 10 companies continue to cooperate.
The report, prepared jointly by the largest bank in the region, along with partners, offers a study of 100 companies from the fintech industry.
Expenditures on development of innovations in the Polish banking sector have been growing by 14.5% on average annually; in 2019 they amounted to PLN 1.6 billion.
A significant portion of solutions are worked out by the banks together with their technological partners.
How to “break into” a Polish bank
Banks in the region specialise in a systemic approach to the cooperation with startups more than any other industry, building dedicated programs and innovation teams. Acceleration in banking offers a 3-times higher guarantee of signing a contract than in other sectors (where traditional sale performs better).
The most efficient mode of launching cooperation is a pilot project. Almost 9 out of 10 startups cooperating with banks had “pilots” of their solutions. For 70% of them, this allowed the signing of a commercial contract. According to 40% of respondents, their solutions are a must-have for a modern banking sector.
Three major implementation areas include data analysis, internal process optimisation and customer servicing.
Financial benefits are the most important aspect of cooperation only for 17% of companies. A definite majority is more interested in image-related benefits or access to the customer base, along with feedback from the professional partner.
Results show that apart from Poland, the market for researched startups include the UK, Germany, the US, Spain and Singapore.
