Strategic Models for the Delivery of Personal Financial Services: The Role of Infocracy

Abstract

The growth of the Internet and the rapidly evolving regulatory climate in the United States and abroad have radically altered the environment of the financial service industry. This chapter focuses on integrated personal financial services (IPFS) — the integration of services such as banking, insurance, and investing for the end consumer — in this new, networked economy. It identifies three different business models for the delivery of IPFS. It explores the concept of an infocracy, a form of organization in which information provides the underpinning of structure and the basis of individual power, and addresses its implications for the management and success of the alternative IPFS business models.