Is Canopy Credit Suisse's Secret Weapon?

Skeptics of the technology did not believe clients, particularly famously reticent Asian clients, would authorize bankers to access information across all their accounts. «That was not a bet we were willing to place», said one such industry source.

«Credit Suisse can target clients – until someone else does»

In anticipation, Sharma convinced clients with assets totaling tens of millions, to aggregate information with Canopy, proving to the banks he pitched to that clients were indeed ready for change. Validating that initial hypothesis, one-third of Credit Suisse's wealthy clients have already authorized the bank to view aggregated financial statements of all their bank accounts.

Others believed «getting in too early would mean funding most of Canopy’s research and development,» rather than «investing in the finished product.» Some of these banks have since made the commitment. For example, Bank of Singapore – which has long sought to match rival DBS’s fintech initiative but at a more prudent cost – expects to offer Canopy to clients in the near future. Until it – or some other bank – does, Credit Suisse can continue unfettered to target specific clients with specific products and pricing. A recent client satisfaction survey showed the bank was increasing its share of wallet amongst existing clients.

«Aggregation will become industry standard»

«The Canopy partnership is not exclusive to Credit Suisse but we have a very clear edge», says Francois Monnet, Credit Suisse’s head of greater China private banking and a vocal proponent of the bank’s digital thrust. «Clients will not aggregate multiple times, so the head start Credit Suisse has is a significant advantage», he says. «For subsequent private banks, there would be a lead time so it is likely that the platform that gets to the client first keeps the client.»

Monnet may be biased about an initiative he spearhead, but his logic holds true. Clients may not resent the 5,000 Swiss franc ($4,990) per annum subscription fee for Canopy – a single better decision based on the analytics it provides would recoup costs and more – but they are unlikely to replicate it across multiple platforms.

Eventually though, aggregated client information could become industry standard. Much like the Bloomberg terminal used by traders, it will provide a goldmine of portfolio allocation and risk data but it will no longer be the exclusive purview of a few top tier private banks.