The start-up of the funds, commonly referred to as ” fintech “, which bloom currently in Germany are disrupting the banking landscape ? Michael Stephan, co-founder of Grape, a young shoot which premiered in Berlin in 2013, speaks more readily of “cooperation” than “competition” between old and new actors of the finance sector. Grape is an online platform that allows you to subscribe to savings products across Europe. It now has 100 000 customers, mainly from Germany.
“We are working in collaboration with the banks. Either they are clients, because they collect the savings of individuals, what are our sales partners “, explains Michael Stephan. Grape is not an isolated case : the fintech are in general happy to be able to offer their products to thousands of customers of banks. And these last, after having long been reluctant, call today for start-ups to improve their offers on the Internet.
“Delay ”
“Compared to Spain or France, the German banks are far behind the digital. Apart from the “néobanques” [new banks exclusively on-line], I know of no institution that is able to offer its customers to purchase its products online, ” says the young entrepreneur. According to him, this can not be justified by the ageing of the German population : “The classic client of the Grape is a German between the age of 55 to 60 years, he needs neither counsel nor branch to place its savings, he manages quietly from his Internet terminal, comparing the offers. “
For this expert of the finance online, the actors of the rupture are found less among the start-ups that in the Internet giants such as Amazon, Apple or Alibaba, which combine a critical size with strong market penetration…
