Why did Swiss retailer Coop shut down its banking offering?
Swiss retailer Coop shuts down banking product just nine months after launch. Why standalone offerings fail and what retailers get wrong about embedded finance.
Just nine months after its launch announcement, Swiss retail giant Coop announces that it is shutting down its banking product (Finews). The news was a surprise because:
Nine months is rather a short time for retail giant to get relevant insights
The announcement in October 2023 made it appear that Coop is pretty confident in its financial service plans
Coop shared a number of partners (incl. insurances) whose products were never being launched
On the other hand, the announcement was not a surprise, because:
The product was hardly ‘embedded’, but rather a stand alone banking offering
It is never easy to build an embedded finance product, but retailers face a number of challenges
There was little to no progress in adding new financial products besides the bank account and card offering.
Overall, it seems that the move to re-enter the world of financial services was either not well planned or commitment from top level management was not in place or has shifted (Money Today; German).
Founder of Embedded Finance Review. 10+ years in fintech, including employee #1 at figo (open banking) and first Head of Banking at Weavr. Based in Berlin.
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