In PR, negativity framed in Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) normally gets the headlines. However, with a contrarian approach, Positive Marketing helped SunTec attract over 24,000 views of its Open Banking content.
The financial services industry has never seen so much change in its 300-plus year existence as it has within the last 10 years. Changes to sector-specific regulation as a consequence of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis meant banks today have to deal with more red tape than ever before. These new regulations wanted to create two changes in the financial industry; to make sure banks have enough capital to survive if 2008 happened again and to create a very competitive market which works for, not against, the consumer.
Under the concept of Open Banking, where banks are forced to share super valuable customer data with third parties, our high-street juggernauts are now pitted against the likes of Google, Amazon and Facebook in a battle for market share. On one side, you have high-street banks who have the credibility built up over centuries of experience. On the other,   consumers have digitally-empowered agility offered by Google, Apple where payments can be made with a fingerprint scan.
Will complex change in the market end up in a war of attrition where we see the technology industry triumphs over traditional banking, or vice-versa? If you read a lot of opinions, you may think this is the only option. However, the debate in banking is not as destructive nor reductive as you think.
Thought leadership, by definition, is contrarian. By going against the current consensus to explain why Open Banking provides high street banks and FinTechs an opportunity to collaborate, SunTec brought a refreshing Point of View to market through its content hub, SunTec ViewPoint.  
To further expand the reach of SunTec’s thought leadership, we advised SunTec to use existing earned content opportunities to drive eyeballs and traffic to ViewPoint. By using SEO-friendly writing techniques, Positive Marketing made SunTec content on Open Banking more searchable online and captured over 24,000 views with three blogs posted on a leading Financial Services publication.
The traditional Financial Services industry is finally adapting to the pace of its digital challengers. New regulation such as PSD2 will deliver the offers and rewards many consumers deserve. While it is premature to discuss the end of some high street banks, Positive Marketing combined earned and owned content nous to position SunTec as a technology pioneer in Open Banking.
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