Can banks win in building digital ecosystems?

Summary

Financial institutions are being forced to rethink where value actually gets created in banking, as super apps, mobility platforms, and payment providers compete for ownership of the customer journey rather than just individual products. A digital ecosystem, a connected web of stakeholders creating value beyond any single institution's direct control, has become the battleground where this competition plays out.

Ketan Samani, Chief Digital Officer at China Financial Development Taiwan, and Gaurav Goel, National Head of Startup and New Economy Business at Yes Bank, discuss whether traditional banks can realistically compete with fintechs and technology platforms in building these ecosystems, drawing on examples from the ASEAN and Indian markets and the disintermediation risk incumbents now face.

How banks can build ecosystems while keeping pace with intensifying competition, the operational and cultural challenges of orchestrating a multi-party network, and how success in ecosystem strategy should actually be measured all come under scrutiny, questions many incumbent banks are still working through as they weigh build, partner, or acquire strategies for extending beyond core banking products into adjacent services.

• Regional lens on ASEAN and Indian banking ecosystem strategies
• Perspectives from both an established bank and a China-based digital finance executive
• Discussion of build, partner, and acquire pathways for ecosystem expansion