Times are changing. And so too are the things that customers want from their bank. A large-scale survey by Accenture of 33,000 bank customers in 18 markets showed as early as 2017 that expectations of new digital services and personalised offerings had risen significantly. Some of the respondents were also open to sharing personal data if they received something in return, such as new products or the chance to participate in a bonus program. The prerequisite being that the provider is trustworthy. This is where traditional banks scored points in the survey.

In order to best meet customer expectations for new products, banks are increasingly turning to cooperations with Fintechs or start-ups whose business models are predominantly digital and who have a good understanding of what younger target groups want and need. Deutsche Bank began working with emerging digital companies as early as 2015.

In the first step, the bank takes a close look at how suitable these companies are as potential partners. Then it grants them access to customer data with a view to developing products that are as tailored to clients’ needs as accurately as possible. This happens via the bank's data interfaces, or Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) – once clients have consented to their data being used.

With BitsaboutMe, users can benefit directly and earn money from their data

One example is the relatively new collaboration with BitsaboutMe – which is not a classic Fintech, but a technology start-up from Switzerland that wants to give back users full control over their data. With the help of the app, users can see the data that companies collect from them and then decide who they want to make it available to – and find out how they can earn money by doing so.

“BitsaboutMe is a partner with whom we are still in the early phase of cooperation. First, we are testing the offer internally, and we will add selected customers in the next step. If the offer works and there is demand, we will offer it to all our customers," explains Philipp Preuss, who works in the Private Bank’s New Digital Ecosystems team and is responsible for the cooperation within the bank.

Data protection plays a decisive role in all of our cooperations. "We do not provide the data ourselves but enable our customers to make it available to specifically selected partners. In this way, customers retain full control at all times over which, and how much data they want to share," explains Hensen.