Interview with René Kohler

Our CEO René Kohler talks to moneycab about data-driven banking and Contovista’s goals both for today and the future. The interview was conducted by Helmuth Fuchs (moneycab).

moneycab: Mr Kohler, 9 years after the launch and proof of concept, Finnova acquired Contovista from Viseca in 2022. How has this affected Contovista’s strategy, and what were some of the key changes brought about by the new owner?

René: Contovista combines design, technology, and data analytics to create unique banking experiences for bank customers and financial institutions. This has been the intention and driving force from the very beginning and has not changed with the acquisition by Finnova. Contovista continues to develop data-driven finance management solutions, with a core focus on enriching and processing transaction data. These solutions are integrated into banking platforms from various manufacturers, thereby maintaining independence from the core banking system.

Non-Finnova banks and other core banking system providers will continue to be integrated in the same way as they are today. With the acquisition, there is definitely a certain expectation from Finnova banks (which currently make up around 35% of our customers). We aim to meet these expectations by enhancing integration into existing Finnova solutions. At the same time, we plan to introduce new offerings in data-driven banking for all banks. Our goal is to strengthen the financial landscape of tomorrow through data-driven innovation, which means that we’ll collaborate even more closely in eco-networks. As pioneers in open banking, we will continue to prioritise and invest in open banking and open data.

moneycab: You became CEO of Contovista in May 2023, previously serving as Head of IT at Valiant Bank for 6.5 years. CIO and CEO are two very different roles. From a personal perspective, where do you identify areas for further learning, and how are you addressing them?

René: During my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work extensively at the interesting intersection between business and IT. The goal was to provide IT business solutions that optimally support both the business and customers while striking a healthy balance between benefits and costs. The difference between a CIO of a bank and a CEO of a software solutions provider is not that great in this regard.

However, being a CEO is significantly broader in scope. It is essential to align the entire company with strategic goals, encompassing not only business alignment, development, and project management but also sales, marketing, and product management. At our size, aligning skills is crucial to ensuring an effective team. To achieve this, I exchange ideas with other companies and FinTechs to discover how this is done successfully elsewhere. Sharing ideas with customers is also crucial for better understanding the challenges they face and where we can make a contribution.

moneycab: Contovista has been developing data-driven analytics solutions since the very outset to provide users with a deeper understanding of their financial situation (data-driven banking, DDB). How can bank customers benefit from these solutions today?

René: Our range of services such as Personal Finance Management (PFM) and customised insights provide customers with greater transparency and a better understanding of their financial situation. Multibanking offers a consolidated view of all finances across all banks in real time, while our “intelligent tax deductions” module automatically identifies and categorises tax-relevant items and transactions.

The Carbon Footprint Manager, which we launched in summer 2022, helps you to understand your personal consumption-related CO2 emissions. It also provides tips on possible improvements and relevant product recommendations.

All this leads to greater control over the bank customer’s own finances and ultimately to improved financial health.

moneycab: What are the biggest opportunities and risks of data-driven banking for financial institutions?

René: A wealth of data is generated relating to people’s financial lives, which of course accurately records behaviour and developments. Data-driven banking provides a broad spectrum of insights and knowledge, helping banks to provide their customers with advice tailored to their individual needs and to provide personalised offers directly in digital banking. Furthermore, data-driven banking helps banks to make informed decisions, improve their services, and make their processes more efficient overall.

Data-driven banking also helps to enhance customer service, boost efficiency, and minimise risks, for example by detecting fraud, assessing credit risks, etc.

Data-driven banking offers many advantages and helps banks to manage operational risks. We address the risks associated with using data through appropriate security measures, consistent handling of CID (customer identifying data), and compliance with legal regulations.

moneycab: Artificial intelligence and large language models (LLM) have aroused enormous interest among the wider population thanks to applications such as ChatGPT. Where do you use these technologies at Contovista, and what do you see as the next technological developments to shape the financial sector?

René: The potential of the technology has been known for some time. I myself am pleasantly surprised by the revolutionary spread of these AI applications and how easily they can be used to provide support – and this is just the beginning of the journey.

With publicly accessible LLMs (large learning models) and specifically trained and deployed LLMs and applications based on them, the potential is huge. This is particularly true when it comes to extracting targeted and useful information from the “infinite” and diverse data streams.
Processing over 400 million transactions per month requires highly efficient and high-performance algorithms. We use machine learning for data enrichment to process data efficiently.

AI will continue to shape and change the financial sector. This is why it is important for us at Contovista to be at the forefront, analysing the solutions in detail and taking the latest findings into account. The aim is to secure our expertise and further extend our competitive edge.

moneycab: Analysing customer data, especially when it takes place across departments or even across banks, is subject to strict data protection requirements. How do you deal with this, and what approaches are there to ensure that governance and data protection don’t hinder innovation?

René: The broad use of data (across departments and banks) is of great importance for performing targeted and beneficial analyses. Consequently, protecting data and processing procedures is absolutely vital here.

One approach is to ensure technological and procedural protection from the very outset – data protection by design. Another approach is the clear separation of CI data and transaction data as well as the use of data anonymisation and data encryption. The challenge here, however, is still the provision of data by customers and banks. After all, data analytics requires access to data.

moneycab: As most customers have more than one banking relationship, multi-bank capability, which depends heavily on open interfaces, is crucial for gaining a complete overview of a customer’s financial situation. While the EU largely regulates this issue with PSD2, it is still voluntary in Switzerland. Where does Switzerland stand in international competition and where is there a need for action?

René: Switzerland is taking a very pragmatic approach to this issue. This could be interpreted as being tailored to the situation, one step at a time, or as lacking courage and not being customer-centric.

The Swiss financial sector has nothing to hide; we have many innovative FinTechs. However, we don’t always provide them with an ideal environment in which to implement solutions widely. The benefits for financial institutions and their customers don’t yet seem to be understood by all players in the market, especially when it comes to “beyond banking offerings”. That’s why I would wish for a more proactive approach in Switzerland, tackling the topics of openness, open banking, and collaboration with others with greater courage. It doesn’t always require the threatening hand of regulation, especially when it comes to being innovative and customer-centric.

moneycab: As a technological approach, data-driven banking is dependent on the technological capability of banks and their customers. Where does Switzerland stand by international standards?

René: Technological development in recent years has been tremendous, and the trend indicates further acceleration. Switzerland is fundamentally in an excellent position here. We have a favourable environment for FinTechs and excellent universities that play in the top league technologically. This is also reflected in the strong appeal for the many large international companies.

Today, users across all age groups are already using many new technologies, namely smartphones and apps with great user experience (UX). Bank customers also expect a top UX as well as the use of these new technologies.
When it comes to specific implementation by banks, we still perceive some restraint. However, the new technologies offer significant potential to efficiently serve customers in various segments. This includes customers who require a lot of advice with specific insights and recommendations, as well as customers with little to no advisory needs with an efficient yet individualised approach.

To enhance competitiveness, Swiss financial institutions should promote innovation and FinTech solutions. For me, this also includes collaboration with FinTechs and start-ups. The development of innovative financial products and services, the promotion of open banking, and the integration of AI solutions are all part of this.

moneycab: FinTechs strive primarily to excel with features that captivate customers through simplicity and data-driven insights. Above all, this requires new technologies and fewer traditional customer advisors. How do you perceive the role of traditional banks in this development, and how will it change the banking landscape in Switzerland?

René: I don’t see this as one or the other. Both have their legitimate importance. FinTechs often need a banking-related framework and traditional banks need a catalyst for innovation. Despite all the AI functions, professional advice will still be needed in the future. However, these advisors will be able to use state-of-the-art digital, understandable, and data-driven tools – sometimes in collaboration with customers.

In particular, the new technology offers great potential to efficiently serve customer segments that do not require personalised advice and still provide them with optimal support.

In an ideal world, future banking will be characterised by a combination of professional advice and modern technology. This will also strengthen cooperation and activities in ecosystems. It will enable banks to access the technological expertise, innovative strength, and agility of FinTechs, allowing them to bring solutions to market more quickly. And it will help small start-ups to benefit from the customer relationship and regulatory know-how of banks.

moneycab: An increasingly important topic for investors is what they can change with their investments in terms of the environment or social living conditions (impact investing). How does this dimension find its way into data-driven banking and Contovista’s solutions?

René: I think it’s great that people are thinking more and more about sustainability and their own behaviour in this area. There are already banks with models for green investing that work with AI to take greater account of these new requirements of the investment community. However, the potential here is far from fully tapped. Data is also an important factor in this area. Promoting impact investing in data-driven banking requires access to relevant data sources, including ESG data providers.

As a first step, our offering gives banks the opportunity to engage with their customers in a user-friendly manner. With the Carbon Footprint Manager, which we launched with the help of our partner Deedster, we have expanded our solutions for banks to offer their customers comprehensive insights into their consumer behaviour and impact on the environment. This way, customers have a transparent overview (directly in banking, without additional third-party tools) of the CO2 impact generated by their consumption behaviour. This increases their understanding and gives them a solid basis for making decisions, such as behaviour choices or where to invest their capital.

moneycab: Medium-sized and smaller financial institutions in particular rely on external providers on banking platforms. How willing are these providers to integrate Contovista solutions into their own platforms?

René: The use of banking platforms as SaaS or cloud solutions will continue to increase. This also makes sense from an economic perspective. What the respective providers of banking platforms offer financial institutions depends heavily on how innovatively these providers position themselves.

Medium-sized and smaller financial institutions are also realising that bank customers now expect more and more. If banks are unable to meet these expectations in-house due to a lack of expertise or resources, offerings like ours are a great help.

Fortunately, our success speaks for itself – we see that financial institutions are coming to us, not only with existing customers, but also with new customers. On the one hand, this is to benefit from ongoing innovation, while on the other they remain fast and agile and can further optimise their service and offerings for customers.

moneycab: To conclude the interview, I want to give you two wishes. What would you wish for?

René: Sure, here are my two wishes. Although wishes can be tricky, they at least help create awareness.

Open banking and open finance are close to my heart – so my first wish is for banks to step on the gas and keep pressing on with their development work. I would expect this to bring more TPP offerings to the market, which can once again give banks a competitive edge and generate added value for customers – i.e. all of us.

I believe in the innovative power of ecosystems – and so my second wish is that financial institutions, FinTechs, and technology providers would work more closely together to develop holistic financial solutions and thus better meet the needs of customers.

Thank you for the interview – I hope that my wishes will help to promote an innovative and customer-centric financial sector.