Project Experience

Financial Services: Evaluation of E-commerce Technology in the Discount Brokerage Industry:

Client Situation
One brokerage firm active in the field of electronic commerce engaged Fuld & Company to assess the technological direction and capabilities of five leading competitors. To chart its own course in this emerging and evolving channel, the client wanted to explore several issues.

Fuld Approach
We developed a scope with the client and pursued questions such as: what key investments its competitors were making in E-commerce; what kinds of firms they were partnering with; what underlying technology supported functionality that they could deliver to customers, and; what was their thinking and strategy related to security, thin-client versus fat-client, and other trends in the industry.

Benefits and Implications
The analysis surprised the client in that competitors were taking quite varied approaches in areas previously thought to offer little flexibility or few options. In addition to learning of new paths it might consider pursuing, the client gained a much-needed sense of urgency that would be required to secure funding for future R&D and marketing.
For more information on E-Business in the financial services industry, please contactlscanlon@fuld.com.