In the past, students often took gap years to travel the world before real work started. Holiday working, temp and flex work on location was the norm for them. These days, the ecosystem of working travelers changed. Advanced access to the internet and a so-called laptop lifestyle allows people to work wherever they see fit, locally but also internationally. This brings about new misconceptions and challenges for both supply and demand in the market place.
Retail banking and finance, including insurance, is a local business activity. Financial risk management and regulatory control has local determinants. As such, holiday makers fit in the profile of retail customers because their traveling has a temporary character. Something similar applies to the self employed person, the sole trader and often even the small business owner. Their banking facilities are tailored to domestic use and bringing them into other countries for a longer time can disrupt the service and may violate the terms of the agreement.
Internationalization of a personal and professional lifestyle allows the individual to identify solutions he or she sees best fit. In the matter of financial needs and banking facilities, this is not always an easy task. For example, licensed financial institutions like the Lucayas Bank in the Bahamas got into trouble for alleged violations of the capital requirements. during a resolution stage, where a statutory administrator is appointed, customers have no access to any of the bank facilities. This is not a desirable situation for travelers who are away from home and have little access to an environment they are familiar with.
Travelers in need of (international) banking facilities may take advantage of the global reach and efficiency of the FinTech industry. These firms provide advanced technological equipment leveraged by financial innovation. However, the firms often act as an Electronic Money Institution and therefore have no physical branches, no depositor protection and have limitations to their global utilization. Therefore, one-size fits all solution can be very rewarding and cost-efficient but do not always provide answers in matters of failure.