For years we’ve heard from self-important people in expensive suits that while Fintechs have the snazzy innovation and speed to market, banks have the customer’s trust. But do they really? Sure our money is protected by a regulatory requirement that forces banks to guarantee our deposits, so we know that, should something like the crisis of 2008 were to happen again, our money would be safe. Yet according to a recent survey by Ipsos Mori, over 66 % of us suspect that our bank would take advantage of us if it could.
Haukur Skúlason , CEO and Co-founder at Icelandic challenger bank Indó is rethinking trust and taking what it means to trust your bank to a whole new level. With a refreshing philosophy of what banking should and shouldn’t be, Indó bank is gearing up to bring an end to bullshit banking with a revolutionary proposition: “We don’t want customers only to trust us, we want them to like us.” And how will it achieve this monumental task? with a mindset rarely seen in financial services and a value proposition centred on transparency, clarity, fairness and a rotund and friendly animated green mascot for good measure.
In this refreshing chat with Haukur we find out how his fearless founding team is approaching the development of Indo like many other disruptors outside banking; removing unnecessary fees, engaging customers in product development and taking a broader view that seeks to understand what problems they should be solving for customers, rather than what products they should be forcing down on them. Indo’s measure of success will come when the rest of the industry is forced to change their approach to fees and customer service in response to the new standard it seeks to establish.
This is one of the most provocative takes on banking that we’ve heard so far, and we say that with a lot of excitement as consumers who yearn for the type of banking and mindset that Indó promises. The end of Bullshit Banking cannot come soon enough!
