Movenbank promises to 'reboot' banking at Sibos

Got my invite today. Went to enrol. Must have a Facebook account to enrol.

Bye, I'm outta here.

Movenbank is about using social networks to build your financial 'Cred'. But it's still a bank so needs to be strong on privacy and trust. Facebook is the diametric opposite.

If it's linked only to FaceBook and Twitter, I can't see MovenBank attracting or retaining many value-creating customers. But it will be an interesting experiment to watch - and maybe copy the good bits.

I can respond to that on behalf of Movenbank.

Essentially right now we're building out our CRED engagement model, of which Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn profiles are a component of the data model. 51% of 'web' users today use Facebook to engage with eCommerce sites, so it's a common standard for basic identification.

Once the bank product is launched, that will be backed up by a second layer of Identity Verification that is more stringent and traditional. However, that deep level of KYC is simply not required for the interactions we're having with our customers right now.

This is a perfect illustration of what is broken in the current KYC model. I don't need ALL your identity information to start this relationship. I might later, but I can build that over time and still have a very secure, safe relationship with the customer.

I think suggesting that Facebook is diametrically opposed to security shows a rather traditional view of interactions. The fact is, social media is not going away. We need to figure out its place in the interaction, but still protect the consumer long-term.

That's is what Movenbank is all about. 

Interesting. Two issues these discussions bring up - Identity and Facebook. 

When I met with Daniel Marovitz, late of Deutsche Bank now of startup Buzzumi, he talked about the lessons his startup gained in regards to Facebook. 

When Buzzini started, you needed to log in through Facebook, meaning you needed a Facebook account. Daniel looked at the sheer number of people connected via Facebook and felt it was a no brainer. However, the connections, really didn't get off the ground. He investigated and found, through market research that many people, and in his words 'the more senior and serious the person, people who's opinions I respected' were, they less they were to even be a member of Facebook. 

Facebook is where people share picture of their children with people they like. Is it a place for business, real business, not just games credits or vouchers? Many thought it would be, but antedotal evidence is suggessting, it isn't (right now).

The second is identity. I attended the CSFI Visa Fellowship roundtable looking at indentity in financial services yesterday. In a heated debate on KYC, idenity and so on, one of the roundtable members commented that on the first day of Metro Bank's launch in the UK 90% of the people who opened one of their 'instant accounts' did so with fraudulent documentation. 90%! The bank average is 18%.

Unique personal digital identity (which is what it will evolve into) will be the topic of 2012 - I predict.