I recently read this thread on Twitter about the banking experience for an elderly gentleman in Canada. It’s frankly horrific.

The financial product landscape is monopolized by banks, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if there was a greater range of products available. There are so many segments of the population that have unique problems that are not being served by existing products. This is true especially in Canada which is a very multicultural society.

Taking a more customer centric approach to banking and looking at the unique needs of these segments - the elderly, immigrants, caregivers - are paramount to creating a better banking experience. Whether it’s loan products with friendlier terms, financing for those taking care of their parents, appealing to those that have a cultural inhibition to debt - all of these things are not being addressed through the current product suite across banks. They have taken a bank-centric vs. customer centric approach, and it shows.

This is a problem and a huge opportunity. Thankfully, this is a known problem and many fintech companies (the entire industry, arguably) are actively working on solutions.