The world in the new reality will never be the same as before the pandemic. The Fintech market was also affected by the crisis, with many companies that managed to adjust in time and respond to changes advantageously. We found this phenomenon interesting enough to dive deeply into the reasons why some companies were struck harder while the others even accelerated their growth, given that all of them have been forced to operate remotely. Is there a chance that remote work helps to grow the Fintech business?
What the web says
The first step in our research was to search through the Internet. We found that many companies that survived the pandemic not only switched to remote themselves but supported their partners and clients in comfortably continuing their businesses.
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Robert Sofia, CEO at Snappy Kraken, published an open letter to financial advisors in which he outlined the changes his company implemented to serve the needs of advisors. For instance, they are waiving all setup fees for financial advisors willing to join in quarantine times as well as lower prices on marketing because traditional marketing events like seminars and networking events are of no use today.
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Meanwhile, the adoption of digital services will be accelerated, although it cannot be the reason for a regress in client adoption and servicing. To help colleagues figure out how to deliver advice remotely, H. Adam Holt, CEO at Asset-Map, announced an emergency spin-up webinar on best practices. Sharing knowledge at difficult times is also a way to preserve customer loyalty.
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Fostering integrations, partnerships, and mutual collaboration is one of the keys to accelerating financial services transformation.
Collaboration among Fintech firms is one of the attributes I’m most proud of in this industry. Partnerships that are mutually beneficial, with no expectation of revenue share, only focused on improving the advisor experience, is a trend we continue to see and actively participate in.” —Corey Westphal, Founder & CEO at Mobile Assistant
What experts say
The next step in our research was to ask experts what they think makes companies stronger when working remotely. The answer was largely anticipated, though the devil is in the details.
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Most important for us was ensuring our team felt fully supported in a move to 100% remote working. This included ensuring everyone had ergonomic work environments, social gatherings, and increased support through HR where needed. We dedicated a team member to speak with everyone on the team at least weekly to make sure they had everything they needed during the first 12 weeks. —Adrian Johnstone, CCO at PractiFi
Along with HR processes covered in details in our HR management guide, the role of simplicity and understandability of company’s processes rises greatly.
Our business has been highly resilient to the changes arising from the pandemic. Given our global team structure, we were prepared for remote working and have been able to really focus on supporting our clients. Our embedded collaboration features have been exceptionally beneficial as our clients shift to having a remote workforce. —Adrian Johnstone, CCO at PractiFi
The structured process is what makes a Fintech company resilient to any lockdown. According to Mark Nahlovsky from ActiFi, even inefficient meetings and calls can ruin the company’s or the project’s effectiveness. However, if one follows a structured process, there won’t be such problems.
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[The development process] is typically delayed by not having the right people on the initial phone calls to discuss the business purpose AND the business process. In some cases, the business process is not being defined to a detailed enough level, thus forcing more meetings and leaving the software engineers frustrated that their time was wasted. —Mark Nahlovsky, CTO at ActiFi
What to do to ensure your remote processes don’t let your startup down?
Handling SDLC and product delivery in a structured way is a basement for a Fintech company that wants to be resilient. Because Fintech is especially sensitive to security policies and regulations, structured delivery becomes important to an extreme.
