1. Ecosystem vs Egosystem and Revolution vs Evolution

Banks need to move into the ecosystem to participate in the new economy, but it’s not easy. In this chapter, we consider the forces driving us from traditional financial services egosystem to the emerging financial ecosystem. We examine the way financial services organisations have been structured to date, and the binding forces that are keeping them that way, despite efforts to change. We discuss the factors that have allowed the ecosystem economy to emerge, and how the transition is happening—with some examples of organisations that are successfully bridging the gap. We also consider the level of disruption that will be required or result from the transition and ask whether relatively pain-free evolution will be overcome by a more compromising, dramatic and painful revolution.