Open Innovation Effectiveness in the Financial Services Sector

Many factors are changing the financial services industry. At first, we have to consider the macroeconomic scenario characterized by low interest rates, leading to a reduction of the institutions’ profitability and promoting investments aimed to increase the organizations’ efficiency. The regulatory framework is another element to consider, since, after the financial crisis, the authorities introduced new norms, some of them are currently under implementation, like the Market in Financial Instruments Directive II, the Insurance Distribution Directive or the General Data Protection Regulation. The last element we have to consider is the technological one: during the years, many innovations changed the customers’ behaviors, introducing new needs that institutions have to take into account in their strategic plans. Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, also called GAFA, have introduced new ways to interact with consumers that are based on instant and easy access to different functionalities.