The I-Nova Suite is being used increasingly by banks and insurance companies to generate, manage and develop new ideas in an evermore competitive industry.

Financial-services depend heavily on innovation to enable them to achieve short and long term targets and improve their performance. 

According to a recent study by consulting firm McKinsey, most executives working for public and private firms in retail and investment banking, asset management, insurance, and other financial services, consider that innovation is not only crucial to develop new products but also for designing new business models. Here’s why:

• Nowadays there is too little differentiation between products and services

Insurance products such as IARD are currently considered as commodities. Once highly specialized and sure of holding onto their clientele, most insurance companies now face fierce competition from banks. However, bank products and services are also very similar. Finding white spaces and niches to attract new consumers and leaving the price war to slower competitors has become a strategic issue.

• Current products and business models are unlikely to reach their sales targets given the prevailing financial turmoil.

What is more, the financial-services industry has one of the fastest aging working-populations. As “grandad-olescents” are now leaving the industry, replacing them with new talent has become a key issue. However, the crisis has tarnished the industry’s image, reducing its pulling power.

Successful innovation in the financial-services industry

Triggering innovation in the financial-services industry is considered to be tougher than in most other industries. The following are some of the barriers to innovation:

• The demand for short term financial success is expected in everything the industry does. However, innovation sometimes means losses in the short term during the adjustment phase.
• More than 40% of financial-service companies lack an organizational mechanism capable of encouraging new ideas and their implementation.
• Regulatory pressures and compliance restrictions reduce the space for innovation.

All these constraints can in fact be seen as genuine opportunities for financial-services companies to ensure successful innovation.

Derive innovation rather than take risks on derivatives

The solutions rely on:

Calling on employees to provide ideas, since it is they who are confronted by the task of generating profits and giving your customers the best service possible. Using I-Nova’s capacity to collect, rank and manage suggestions from employees and customers, and make them easily communicable and usable as decision-making objects allows you to become your own consultant;
Identifying competitive and market dynamics by searching and feeding back information on trends, competitors and customers. It all depends on the questions you ask.
Data on consumer insights, behaviour and trends. I-Nova allows you to handle and process large amounts of data for assessment and action. The insights lead to ideas that in turn lead to innovation.