Pinar Ozcan
Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Saïd Business School, Oxford University
“Platformification” of Banking: Strategy and challenges of challenger versus incumbent banks in response to regulatory change in Europe
Abstract
This paper explores what advantages and challenges new players versus incumbents face in creating / transitioning to a platform business model in a regulated, data sensitive industry, in the context of UK retail banking. Through semi-structured interviews and observations during the 16 months before and 12 months after the introduction of open banking regulation, which triggered new entry by digital banks into the industry, we observed the platform formation attempts and challenges of established and new players in the industry. Our findings highlight the limitations of platform strategies and dynamics in highly-regulated, data sensitive industries and provide a nuanced view of platform emergence and industry transformation with attention to organizational context, interorganizational conflicts, and the regulatory environment.