Two developments in the financial services intermediary market that are worth mentioning are the foreign interest in acquiring Dutch financial services providers and fintech-related licence applications by market entrants. What’s remarkable also is that, as it stands, banks and insurance companies are less likely to use the services of intermediaries due, in part, to the emergence of comparison websites, IT solutions and digitalisation.

IT solutions and digitalisation

Banks and insurance companies are increasingly selling their products directly without going through intermediaries. IT solutions and advances in digitalisation allow them to do so. As a result, the role of IT services providers in the financial services market is becoming more prominent, so much so that some are even starting to provide financial services themselves.

Added value

To rise to the challenge of these developments, financial services providers need to demonstrate now more than ever that they provide added value, both to banks and insurance companies and to consumers. Three key aspects in creating added value are: investing in digitalisation, hiring the right people and focusing on data quality.

Pricing strategy and customer acceptance process

As an intermediary, your main edge has traditionally been that you’re in tune with the end customer. You’ll have the greatest chance of survival if you put your full focus on customer relations. Your unique selling point lies in your customer acceptance process. The question you’ll need to answer is this: do I personally provide advisory services to my customers or do I let a robot provide them for me? You know your customers best after all.

Stricter financial markets supervision: duty of care 2.0

Focus on IT solutions and technology is not only required to stay relevant in your market, but also to continue to meet the ever stricter requirements of the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), which will increasingly concentrate on digitalisation and duty of care issues. AFM expects financial services providers to use technological developments in the interest of their customers; this is referred to as duty of care 2.0.

The application of new technology combined with the increasing use of data and a growing cyberthreat places higher demands on the sound and ethical business practices of financial services providers. As far as AFM is concerned, digitalisation has resulted in its supervision focusing on due care in using of customer data, robustness of value chains that are growing in complexity and risk management in IT-intensive operations.

What BDO can do for you

BDO would be happy to advise you on the impact of duty of care 2.0 for your organisation. Drawing on the support of our cybersecurity department and our tech specialists, BDO Legal and Risk Advisory Services can show you what this means for you in concrete terms.

Want to find out more about BDO’s personalised and pragmatic approach for financial services providers? Our specialists would be happy to talk to you about your options.