Background

Since its inception in 2009, Fidor Bank has been disruptive within the financial services industry by rewriting the rules of banking and personal finance. It has taken the interpretation of direct banking to a whole new level. The direct banking model, which aims to provide services remotely via telephone or online banking without relying on a physical branch network, has been prevalent since the late 1980s when UK’s Midland Bank established a subsidiary named First Direct – the world’s first fully functional direct bank. [1] However, the concept gained widespread prominence after the commercialization of internet in the 1990s.
In the early 1990s, the first wave of adopters of the internet-enabled direct banking model were financial institutions such as USAA and First Security Savings Bank (Flagstar). [2] Towards the late 1990s, standalone ‘internet-only’ banks such as Security First Network Bank (US), First-e (Ireland), and mBank (Poland) commenced operations. Most of these ‘banks’ did not have a banking license and were therefore incubated and supported by conventional banks such as CommerzBank, and Banque d'Escompte.
The aftermath of the early 2000s dot-com bubble impacted some of these early movers and dampened consumer enthusiasm towards fulfilling their banking needs online. However, starting in the mid-2000s, there was renewed interest in leveraging the internet for retail banking needs. Emergence of social platforms and e-commerce led to a shift in consumer behavior. Consumers were becoming more receptive to online banking. [3] This led to an emergence of innovative startups which began reinventing the online banking experience. Most notable among these were Simple and Ally.
Shortly after this, the global financial crisis dented consumer confidence in the financial sector. Matthias Kroner felt this sentiment was overly pessimistic and