SaaS success stories (try saying that 3 times fast!) increasing highlight how these tools enable niche, regional, and SME organizations to effectively compete in their market segment. This growth is evident in the financial services marketplace. nCino has consistently provided outstanding loan origination, CRM, and customer onboarding capabilities. Their focus on the SME segment illustrates how key this market will be to the strategic success of fintech organizations. Recent customer implementations by nCino include:
Avenue Bank, an Australian start-up digital business bank specializing in serving small and medium-size businesses, is live on the nCino Bank Operating System®. Avenue Bank deployed nCino’s Commercial Banking Solution to support customer onboarding, origination, credit risk management and customer 360 view—providing their employees with key insights and the automation necessary to deliver a faster response and seamless experience for their customers.
PeoplesBank, an independent community bank based in York, Pennsylvania, is live on nCino’s Small Business Banking Solution. The $2.3 billion-asset PeoplesBank had previously deployed nCino’s Commercial Banking Solution, creating a single, cloud-based platform to meet the growing needs of the institution and its clients.
I expect the velocity (pun intended) of similar announcement to increase. Many of the drivers for this adoption growth are similar to what makes SaaS solutions attractive to the enterprise customer. These drivers include:
Rapid deployment and usage-based pricing models that enable customers to selectively implement existing vendor features, leverage integration platforms such as Informatica and MuleSoft for legacy system applications, and acquire subscription licenses on an as-needed basis;
Application configurability and vendor innovation pipeline that enables users to focus on developing business products not code. This decreases time-to-market and reduces the need for specialized (and expensive) information technology resources;
Support, training, and partner ecosystems that ensure that end-users have access to best-practices guardrails, advanced CI/CD tools, and sophisticated add-ons that improve application quality and developer efficiency. These capabilities are essential to overall long-term program success.
·Compliance and security features that address regulatory standards (CCPA, GDPR) while protecting against emerging cyberrisk threats. SME adopters can access capabilities often available only to enterprise organizations. These features are essential in heavily regulated industries such as banking; and
Process automation and OOTB digital services that simplify business operations and reduce costs. Consumers expect rapid and accurate delivery of services such as onboarding, customer service, and account management. Transformation to a digital operating model is facilitated by vendors who can deliver mobile, robotic process automation, next-best-action, and self-service capabilities.
Fintech SaaS models will continue to disrupt the banking, insurance, and wealth management sectors. Focus will shift from delivering back-office (the factory) to the distribution channel innovation. Skills such as iterative product design, business process optimization, and multiple channel marketing will be at a premium. These changes enhance the SME participants ability to compete effectively.