What are some of the main cost considerations facing financial institutions when looking into the relative merits of whether to build or buy financial technology?
Building in-house solutions requires substantial investment in development resources, specialized talent, and infrastructure. Beyond initial costs, banks face ongoing maintenance expenses, security updates, and continuous feature evolution. These often make the total cost of ownership significantly higher than projected. A specialized fintech partner like TreasurUp distributes development costs across multiple clients, allowing for continuous improvement while keeping costs predictable. This enables banks to access enterprise-grade technology that would be prohibitively expensive to develop individually.
In what ways can the speed of market entry differ between building and buying financial technology?
Developing a client-facing FX hedging solution in-house typically requires 12 to 24 months, from initial concept to full deployment. This period includes solution architecture, software development, integration with internal pricing and trading engines, comprehensive security testing, and regulatory compliance. It also demands a dedicated, cross-functional development team to handle the technical complexity and operational requirements of the project.
In contrast, TreasurUp can deliver a fully white-labeled FX solution within just 3 months. This significant reduction in time-to-market provides banks with a competitive advantage, enabling them to respond rapidly to client demand and market opportunities. With minimal integration required into existing systems, the platform allows banks to begin capturing market share while competitors may still be in early development stages.
Meeting regulatory requirements is critical for financial institutions. How might this impact the decision to outsource fintech functions and does it necessarily present any hurdles?
Regulation is constantly evolving, particularly around data protection and transaction reporting. While this raises legitimate outsourcing concerns, mature fintech solutions are built with compliance at their core.
TreasurUp’s platform addresses key regulatory areas including data security, audit trails, and regional requirements like MiFID II. Specialized providers can adapt more quickly to regulatory changes by leveraging experience across multiple implementations.
What sort of risk management procedures and processes, for example robust business continuity and disaster recovery plans, should financial institutions expect from their fintech partners to ensure the operational resilience and performance of outsourced services?
Banks should expect fintech providers to meet or exceed their own resilience standards. This includes high uptime SLAs, comprehensive disaster recovery protocols and 24/7 monitoring. Recovery time and point objectives should be clearly defined and regularly tested.
Certifications like ISO 27001 demonstrate structured information security management with documented incident response procedures. Regular reporting allows banks to maintain appropriate oversight while delegating the technical execution of resilience measures.
How do vendor fintech solutions compare to internally developed systems in terms of scalability?
Vendor solutions should be architected for scalability from the ground up. A modern cloud-based platform like TreasurUp’s is designed to scale across diverse client segments, geographic locations, and legal entities. It can efficiently handle a high number of trades during periods of market volatility and supports the seamless integration of new features without requiring major system overhauls.
In-house systems, especially those hosted on-premise, often face infrastructure limitations requiring costly upgrades to scale. Cloud-based setups offer elasticity to handle peak loads efficiently, delivering consistent performance regardless of market conditions-a critical advantage in volatile FX markets.
Some banks and financial institutions remain concerned about the data security and integration issues associated with outsourcing fintech. Should they be?
Yes, these concerns deserve serious consideration. Fintech providers must demonstrate robust safeguards for sensitive data throughout its lifecycle, including encryption, access controls, client data segregation, and incident response capabilities. Independent certifications provide third-party validation of security measures.
Beyond security, TreasurUp has established connectivity with major bank systems and FX pricing engines, ensuring secure data flow. The right provider offers both technical security and operational transparency, allowing banks to maintain oversight while gaining specialized expertise.
How flexible can outsourced fintech services be for those institutions looking for solutions that can align more perfectly with their strategic business objectives and unique needs?
Flexibility varies significantly between providers. Some offer standardized solutions, while others build adaptability into their core offering. Banks should seek partners willing to tailor user experiences, branding, workflows, and product roadmaps to align with strategic objectives.
TreasurUp’s approach focuses on configurability allowing banks to maintain unique market positioning while leveraging proven technology.
For financial institutions that decide to go down the outsourcing route what levels of customer service should they expect from their fintech providers?
Banks should expect comprehensive service beyond basic support. This includes defined SLAs with guaranteed response times, dedicated success managers who understand both the technology and business objectives, and structured onboarding with appropriate training.
The relationship should evolve through regular strategic reviews where both sides collaborate on enhancements aligned with the bank’s goals. TreasurUp’s model includes proactive monitoring to identify potential issues before they impact service, ensuring the platform continues to deliver measurable value.
In what ways can outsourced e-FX and white labelled fintech solutions help banks and financial institutions to more quickly capture new business opportunities?
Outsourced solutions enable banks to rapidly deploy market-tested features without the development cycle. These capabilities often emerge from cross-client insights, allowing banks to benefit from collective learning.
TreasurUp regularly introduces innovations like advanced risk analytics or automated hedging strategies that banks can quickly offer to clients. We also explore emerging technologies like stablecoins and AI-based behaviour analysis, inviting bank partners to test early versions with selected clients. This approach allows evaluation of new opportunities with minimal investment, accelerating response to evolving client needs.
What factors and technical considerations are important for financial institutions in the choice of suitable fintech provider for them to partner with?
When selecting a fintech partner, banks should prioritize:
- Proven track record with similar institutions
- Seamless integration with existing FX infrastructure
- Recognized security certifications (ISO 27001)
- Regular platform updates and clear technology roadmap
- Co-development aligned with bank strategy
- Customization options preserving brand identity
- Scalability for growth and new features
TreasurUp meets these criteria through our purpose-built FX platform serving nine banks and thousands of corporate users. Our collaborative approach helps banks compete effectively while maintaining control of client relationships.