The Threat or Opportunity of Open Finance Portals 16/11/00 According to a recent report from FORIT Internet Research, at present a confusing multitude of very similar portal types defines Germany's personal financial portal market. At present, German and Swiss banks and financial services firms are trying to compete by offering an increasingly wide choice of information and tools. In most cases, the financial products and services on offer are exclusively restricted to a firm's own products. However, FORIT predicts that in the near future, Open Finance portals will provide a wide range of online financial services. According to FORIT analyst Nastasja Senn, "By using Open Finance portals, financial services customers will no longer need to access many different websites in order to manage their personal finances and investments. Instead, consumers will be able to compare and choose financial services offered by a wide range of providers, accessing them from just one platform customized to their needs and preferences - the Open Finance portal." According to FORIT, the development of financial portals in Germany will be a four-stage process. In the first phase (which has already begun) online financial services providers will expand their product range and begin to sell financial products, such as insurance, which do not compete with their own established products In the second stage, the Open Finance idea will begin to proliferate. Firms will start to offer their competitors' products in order to retain customers under the pressure of competition from emerging Open Finance portals The third stage will be characterised by a consolidation of the products and services on offer: winning incumbents will be those firms that can offer products and services from a combination of high-quality providers And driven by increased pricing pressures, the fourth stage will be marked by a consolidation in the way financial products themselves are manufactured "Suppliers of financial services will have to decide whether they want to concentrate on creating products or on interacting with customers," Senn continued. "Their success will not depend on the expansion of their own product line but on their ability to present their own range successfully in combination with those of others. A single portal supplier cannot cover all areas such as information, advice, transactions, and forums at the same time. The choice of products, focus, and the right strategic partnerships will therefore be essential for success. This is the only way suppliers can succeed in creating a portal that can beat competitors by offering quality, clarity and choice". For the report entitled "Financial Portals for Private Customers - Focus Or Co-operate," FORIT interviewed the 15 leading portal operators in Germany and Switzerland.