Mortgages are only one aspect of the business with people’s homes and banks increasingly are becoming aware of the wider range of possibilities – but they are not alone.
The volume of the Swiss mortgage business is worth one trillion Swiss francs ($1.02 trillion) and it is a business over which Swiss retail banking has a strong hold. But mortgage lending is but one side of the entire business with residential properties.
Estate agents, notaries, builders, decorators and financial service providers all have an interest in this giant business. In Switzerland, recent years have been kind on this industry.
Eco-Systems as a New Concept
With digitization, a new kind of idea is taking hold though – the concept of eco-systems. The array of services available to property owners are an example for such an eco-system. The search, financing, purchase, renovation, insurance, protection, sale could all be offered through one source.
Banks have seen their monopoly on financing wither in recent years. But while they looking to add new services to their offering, they must realize that others are doing the same. Insurers for instance, traditionally confined to selling protection policies, are equally alert to the emergence of the eco-system model.
Keeping Abreast of Developments
Banks and insurers, originally active in separate sectors of the business, now are pitched against each other, trying to add as many segments as possible to their service offering. Herbert J. Scheidt, head of the Swiss Bankers Association and Vontobel private bank, recently told finews.com that the outcome of the rivalry is far from a foregone conclusion (interview in German).
The change in customer behavior and the emergence of eco-systems condemn his industry to remain alert: «Have banks always been the fastest compared with other industries? I don’t think so,» was Scheidt’s candid assessment.
Finding Growth Online
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