Three Questions: The Velocity Gap and Why Banks are Losing the Race to the "Moment"

Though many know of us for our expertise in the retail and travel verticals, most do not know that we also have extensive history in financial services and fintech. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Antonio Silano, who is primarily known for his experience working with some of the larger retailers in the UK, but also like us, has worked with some major financial services institutions over the years.

It goes without saying that we are living with unprecedented market volatility, which creates both challenges and opportunities. Our focus today is why so many legacy financial services institutions seem stuck in slow motion compared to other industries.

	Julian	You’ve been vocal about what you call the "Velocity Gap" in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector. What exactly is triggering this right now?
	Antonio	To put it bluntly, the “Velocity Gap” is the widening chasm between how fast market realities and customer needs change, and how slowly legacy banks are able to operationalise a response. The primary relationship with a customer is no longer won by the depth of a bank's balance sheet; it’s won by the brand that provides the most immediate utility. Right now, legacy institutions are losing that race - not because they lack talent, but because they lack velocity. Look at what happened with the FCA’s recent motor finance redress announcement. In the time it took for the average high-street bank to simply "internalise" the news and push it through internal approval loops, consumer advocates and third-party platforms had already mobilised. Within hours, automated claim tools were live, and millions of customers were engaged. While the legacy players were caught in their own gears, the market had moved on.
	Julian	Given how the current macroeconomic environment is impacting consumers, can you share an example of how financial services institutions are falling short?
	Antonio	Ongoing global conflicts are driving massive market volatility, shifting everything from energy prices to inflation forecasts. Consumers are understandably anxious. When something major happens, customers aren’t looking for a monthly PDF statement or a generic "market update" that lands in their inbox three weeks after the fact. They want what I call “Regulated Empowerment”. To be explicit, this works on two levels: ● For the customer: It means providing them with the real-time knowledge and instant digital tools they need to take control of their finances during a crisis. ● For the institution: It means having pre-approved, compliance-vetted content and frameworks ready to deploy instantly. This eliminates the weeks of internal review cycles that cause banks to miss the crucial window where their customers actually need to act. If a customer hears about a major shift in their financial world from a social media alert or a news bot before they hear it from their own provider, that bank isn't a partner anymore. It’s just a commodity.
	Julian	We see this as structural bottleneck all the time in our work at Shaw/Scott. It’s rarely a lack of desire from the marketing teams, but outdated processes and lack of internal coordination. How do you contrast legacy approaches with what the market actually demands?
	Antonio	It comes down to a fundamental mismatch between tech and modern reality: ● Legacy CRM: Treats compliance and communication as a "batch and blast" chore. ● Modern Reality: Requires "Signals" triggered by real-time data. In 2026, when a single geopolitical shift can alter an investment strategy or a mortgage outlook in a single afternoon, silence is not a "safe" compliance strategy. Silence is a brand risk. It signals a lack of leadership and opens the door wide for agile competitors to step in.
	Julian	Let's talk about those agile competitors. Fintechs have fundamentally changed customer expectations here. What should the traditional BFSI sector be copying from their playbook?
	Antonio	We need to look at players like eToro, CHIP, and Trading 212, as well as digital-first neobanks like Monzo and Revolut. They treat communication as a high-value service, not an administrative afterthought. When a market-moving event occurs, they react in minutes. Their notifications feel like a "signal"- timely, relevant, and genuinely useful. Let's face it: nobody wakes up wanting to hear from their bank or insurance provider; it’s not a sexy fashion brand. But if BFSI messages were truly useful, tapping into that real-time sense of "need to know", customers would actively welcome them.
	Julian	When we advise clients, our stance is always that you don't bypass compliance to move fast; you have to automate its logic. How do we bridge that gap practically?
	Antonio	To win the race to the "moment," firms have to transition from historical reporting to real-time activation. I strongly advocate for a shift toward “pre-approved logic modules”. Crucially, this isn't just a compliance framework; it's a data readiness argument. You cannot activate quickly if your data is trapped in legacy siloes. You must have clean, real-time data pipelines mapped out beforehand so the system knows exactly when and how to trigger. The goal is to build a framework where: Anticipation replaces reaction: Compliance guardrails are baked into the data logic before the crisis hits. Data triggers the dialogue: A market event occurs, and the system populates a pre-approved template instantly. The customer wins: They receive a compliant, helpful "Next Best Action" while the news is still breaking, not three days later.

At Shaw/Scott, we agree the industry needs a structured way to diagnose where they are falling short, which is why we are looking to bring a new Velocity Audit framework to the market. What should an assessment like that focus on to make a real impact?

A proper Velocity Audit shouldn't just look at standard marketing metrics like open rates or click-throughs. It needs to audit an organisation's "Time-to-Market" for critical, fast-moving events. It should pinpoint the exact internal silos - whether they sit in legal, data infrastructure, or legacy tech stacks - that physically block a firm from engaging its customers when they need guidance the most. In a volatile 2026, the race belongs entirely to the swift. If you’re a BFSI leader ready to close the Velocity Gap and turn your communication pipeline into a competitive moat.

If you’d like to learn more how the experts at Shaw/Scott can help you transform your digital marketing regardless of your challenges without blowing your budget, contact us wgsd@shawscott.com or send us a direct message here.