Telecoms and Banks both operate behind regulatory barriers and both are being impacted by digital disruption.

Telecoms went through this disruption before the Banks, so it is worth seeing if any strategies from Telecoms can be used by Banks.

One strategy is what we see from two major European carriers. France Telecom created the Orange brand to go after global markets and Deutsche Telecom created T- Mobile to do the same thing. In their home markets, they are the regulated incumbent. In foreign markets they are the disruptive challenger.

Banks could do the same thing using Programmable Bank platforms (or put an API on top of their internal systems if they have already done a conversion to a real time back office).

This will ramp up competitive intensity and be good for consumer choice. The resources of a big bank allied to a digital only startup model can be very powerful.