Banks vs Fintech: A Coronastory

As we enter the next decade, however, consumer acceptance of new financial products & services will continue to grow, leaving new demographics open to new products & services. This would have been true regardless, but it seems clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this opportunity.

This new way of winning distribution is quite different from the old way. Yes it’s also capital intensive, but you’re not buying real estate. You have low fixed costs, and variable costs that scale with usage (vs. real estate servicing that you pay regardless of use). And where branch-banking might have had winner-take-all dynamic regionally, there... See more

Despite strong technology players like Stripe, Square, PayPal, and Robinhood, traditional banks are still dominant.

Why can’t a traditional bank do this themselves? 1) They don’t understand how to underwrite using tech industry metrics (ACVs, churn, LTV, engagement, et al.), and 2) they don’t have the tech DNA to underwrite programmatically, which Sand Hill Sachs will have. This may be a new company, an existing fintech player with distribution in tech, a VC fir... See more