The Intermediary – September 2026 - Flipbook - Page 88
B RO K E R B U S I N E S S
Opinion
Outsourcing is
no longer about
cost-cutting
F
or years, outsourcing in
financial services was
viewed through the lens
of cost reduction and
operational efficiency.
Today, financial
services firms are operating in an
increasingly complex environment.
Regulatory expectations continue to
rise, technology is evolving rapidly
and competition remains intense.
Organisations are under pressure to
deliver growth, improve customer
outcomes and invest in innovation.
The question facing leadership
teams is no longer whether to
outsource. It is which capabilities
create genuine competitive advantage,
and which are beer delivered by
specialist partners.
Growth in financial services is
no longer driven solely by products
and distribution. It depends on the
ability to build and scale operational
capabilities that support customers
throughout their entire journey.
Launching a new product,
entering a new market or increasing
lending volumes is only part of the
challenge. Behind every proposition
sits a complex operational ecosystem
covering customer onboarding,
payments, servicing, collections and
ongoing support. Each area must
deliver good customer outcomes, meet
regulatory obligations and adapt to
evolving customer expectations.
Recruiting specialist expertise,
implementing technology,
establishing governance frameworks
and maintaining operational
resilience oen become significant
programmes in their own right. These
efforts can slow growth ambitions and
divert valuable resources away from
strategic priorities.
More firms are recognising that
operational capability does not
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The Intermediary | September 2026
necessarily need to be built from
scratch. This is particularly relevant
for fintechs and challenger brands.
While many bring innovative
propositions and strong customer
experiences, scaling operations in
a highly regulated environment
requires expertise, processes and
infrastructure.
Expect complexity
Consumer Duty, operational
resilience requirements, customer
vulnerability considerations, financial
crime controls and data governance
obligations have all increased
the demands placed on customer
operations. Customers also expect
faster, more personalised and more
seamless experiences than ever before.
Meeting these expectations requires
mature governance, specialist
expertise, robust quality assurance
and technology capable of delivering
insight and continuous improvement.
Firms must be able to demonstrate
good customer outcomes rather than
simply claim they are delivering them.
This is particularly important
in customer servicing, payments
and collections, where operational
efficiency must be balanced with
compliance obligations and the fair
treatment of customers, oen at
vulnerable moments in their lives.
Outsourcing is increasingly being
viewed as a way to access capability
rather than simply reduce costs.
Working with an experienced
managed services provider can
give organisations access to proven
operational expertise, established
governance frameworks, modern
technology and scalable delivery
models without the complexity of
building every function internally. It
can also allow firms to respond more
quickly to fluctuations in demand,
MELANIE SPENCER
is growth director
at Target Group
accelerate time to market and
maintain focus on strategic priorities.
Just as importantly, it enables
leadership teams to focus their
aention on the areas where they
create the greatest value.
A strategic decision
Rather than treating onboarding,
servicing, payments and collections
as separate operational functions,
organisations are increasingly looking
at the customer lifecycle as a whole.
Bringing these together through
shared technology, common data and
consistent governance can improve
visibility, reduce complexity and
create a seamless customer experience.
It also creates greater opportunities
to benefit from advances in
automation, artificial intelligence
(AI) and data analytics. As these
technologies continue to reshape
customer operations, firms need
access not only to the tools themselves
but also to the expertise required
to deploy them effectively and
responsibly.
Ultimately, the outsourcing debate
has become far more strategic than
tactical. It is no longer about handing
off responsibilities to a third party
or simply finding efficiencies. It is
about ensuring organisations have
access to the capabilities, expertise
and operational resilience needed
to compete in an increasingly
demanding market.
The real opportunity is not simply
to do the same things more efficiently,
but to access the capabilities needed to
grow faster, adapt more confidently
and deliver beer outcomes for
customers. ●
