Forget Omni-Channel, It’s ‘Mobile First, Mobile Only,’ Head of Citi Fintech Says

PHOENIX — Banks need to focus on mobile capabilities if they want to win the war against fintech, Heather Cox, head of Citi Fintech, told attendees of CBA Live 2016 recently.

“In this brave new mobile world, I don’t even talk about omni-channel anymore;” Cox said. “I was one of the earliest crusaders for it — I don’t believe in it anymore. Fourteen months ago, I dropped it. It’s mobile first, and it’s practically mobile-only in design and concept.”

The great “differentiators” in the competition between startups and large financial institutions, however, are human beings and the legacy cost structures that startups don’t have, she said. Banks have the resources to converge digital and physical in a way that has not been done before, and in a way that fintech companies can’t afford.

“When they [consumers] do need that human, we can connect them back in to the people we have in our branches and call centers,” Cox said. “So don’t mistake that digital is a choice, or that it flies in the face of your physical footprint — it doesn’t. The beauty is how we marry these things and win in both worlds.”

Cox has been the head of Citi Fintech — a unit of Citibank — since it was created in October 2015.

Learn more about the tech and disruption in the industry at Auto Finance Innovation 2016, May 11 in Fort Worth, Texas. Visit www.autofinanceinnovation.com