Building a winning AI neobank

The last decade has seen around 400 launches of licensed neobanks, 1 1. "Simon-Kucher introduces the Global Neobanking Radar database to rank and track challenger banks and their path to profitability," press release, Simon-Kucher, May 27, 2022. Incumbent banks, nonbank challengers (such as fintech players), stand-alone digital attackers, and large consumer and payments platforms have all launched neobanks in recent years, making the competitive pool increasingly vast and diverse. The term neobank has been used at least since the mid-2010s to describe fintechs that are challenging traditional banks by providing an increasingly comprehensive suite of banking services (as opposed to just payments, personal financial management, etc.) through innovative and low-cost digital channels. Depending on geography, these institutions have also been called challenger banks, virtual banks, digital banks, online banks, and internet-only banks. Over the years, the definition of neobank has expanded and blurred. Many traditional banks have launched their own exclusively digital plays, and fintechs have partnered with traditional banks to provide banking services.