The first step in SEPA was the Euro, the second one was IBAN and SCT/SDD schemes implementation, and I propose the third one is enabling inclusion and mobility. As I stumbled across the article from Lars Markull, “Brief history of IBANs and current Fintech challenges” it stirred up some thinking and ideas I was having in the past. The article is a great source on what exactly IBANs are, but that is irrelevant for the end user.

I started my professional career in the Telecom Industry in the end of the 90s, bringing a service to consumers (Internet Access Provider) that was turning from somewhat niche (BBS, UseNet, …) into mainstream offering (Connection, Portal, Search, Web, Hosting…). The Internet Access Provider made big strides in digitalisation, where it was easy because we could assume that everybody who wanted to surf the Internet had at least a computer. But we had started out with mailing (snail mail) or faxing signup forms, that resulted us sending back an “Access Kit”.

Today’s landscape of traditional Banks and Institutions versus Neobanks and FinTechs is in for some big waves and changes. The traditional banks have been able to “digitalize” with mixed success. They implemented the mandatory systems in order to stay relevant and continue to participate in the systems that provide foundational services. In these highly specialized settings while being dragged down by legacy systems and siloed organization, heavily impacted by 90 IT paradigms, most environments are not appealing for the CS engineer under 30 years old.