• Technological progress and a constantly changing market environment continue to lead to massive and lasting changes in the financial industry

  • Context-sensitive banking is becoming increasingly important and is leading to novel usage for classic as well as innovative services in banking

  • We at CORE use well-tested methodologies, innovative ways of thinking as well as our expertise in future-oriented technology development to address current business challenges and attain sustainable banking solutions.

Insights

Reference items
Blogpost

EU Retail Banking Trends 2026

European retail banking is reaching an efficiency wall. As interest rates normalize, rigid cost bases, limited pricing power, and accumulated legacy complexity expose structural weaknesses that were previously masked by cyclical tailwinds.

26th February 2026
Blogpost

Big Techs vs. Banks: Payments first then Banking?

In May, the EU Competition Commission found that access to Apple's NFC interface could have been unlawfully restricted. A compulsion to open the NFC interface could trigger far-reaching market movements in mobile finance.

21st July 2022
Blogpost

The Digital Markets Act and Apple's concessions

The effects of the European Commission's Digital Markets Act on Apple Pay and how banks should position themselves strategically in the future to free themselves from Apple's fee grip and at the same time to offer their customers user-friendly payment solutions that are integrated into the mobile

5th February 2024

Market situation in Banking

 

Established banking business models are facing disruption from fintech companies across various sectors. The value chain is shifting towards these new market players. In an industry that is already largely digitized and continuing to undergo digitalization, technological progress remains a significant driving force. Banks are aggressively transforming their core positioning through more efficient customer journeys, end-to-end process digitization, robotic process automation, and gradual portfolio expansion.

Simultaneously, fintechs and technology companies are challenging the customer interface of traditional banks. Platform offerings are pushing traditional banking services into the background, encouraging platform users to avail themselves of the providers' own services. The increasing competition is further accelerated by cost-effective white-label platforms offering full-service banking solutions to non-banking entities. Alongside the challenges posed by intensifying competition, regulatory requirements pertaining to transparency, complexity management, and risk governance for market participants are also on the rise. While banks cannot control technology and market developments, they can respond institutionally to these changes. Leveraging our extensive expertise, continuous market and trend monitoring, and proven frameworks, we can support companies in calibrating their organizational and technological measures to the best possible effect.

 

Industry Passion

Our methods are specifically tailored to address the unique challenges faced by our clients. We employ proven frameworks for technology transformation, ensuring support in making organizational management decisions. By evaluating technology and innovation potentials, as well as assessing organizational and cultural conditions, existing structures, and processes, we lay the foundation for deriving actionable measures. All our efforts are geared towards achieving enhanced agility, a crucial differentiating factor in the competitive landscape. Through the evaluation of technical debt, IT architecture reviews, and scrutiny of sourcing strategies, we assist our clients in achieving sustainable system development and maximizing success in an increasingly competitive environment.

Contact our experts

Reference items

Expert EN - Nicolas Freitag

Nicolas Freitag
Director
Nicolas
Freitag

Nicolas Freitag is a Director at CORE and Co-Lead of the Financial Services Industry Practice. He has extensive experience across the European banking landscape and has supported a wide range of re...

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Nicolas Freitag is a Director at CORE and Co-Lead of the Financial Services Industry Practice. He has extensive experience across the European banking landscape and has supported a wide range of retail banks in large-scale transformation programs. His work focuses on shaping and executing strategy, operating model, and technology initiatives that help banks restore efficiency, relevance, and sustainable profitability.

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Expert EN - Lars Fetzer

Lars Fetzer
Director
Lars
Fetzer

Lars Fetzer is Director at CORE. Before moving to consulting in 2024, he worked for over 20 years in the financial sector for a global financial services provider. His main areas of expertise inclu...

Read more

Lars Fetzer is Director at CORE. Before moving to consulting in 2024, he worked for over 20 years in the financial sector for a global financial services provider. His main areas of expertise include program & project management, agile transformations, business development, data-driven customer communication and the formulation of corporate and IT strategies.

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