EY is urging companies to rethink customer ownership in the digital economy, warning that control over the digital wallet, not the traditional bank account, will define who retains customers in the next phase of financial services. The message lands as crypto adoption expands beyond speculation into payments, identity, and tokenized assets, forcing firms to adapt amid regulatory tightening, margin pressure, and intensifying competition for user attention.
Market Context: Wallets Replace Accounts as the Customer Interface
According to EY’s analysis, the wallet is rapidly becoming the primary interface between users and financial products, consolidating payments, assets, identity, and loyalty into a single access point. Global digital wallet usage is projected to exceed 5 billion users by 2026, with transaction volumes growing at a double-digit annual rate as consumers increasingly bypass traditional banking rails. For crypto markets, this shift reinforces the strategic importance of self-custody and programmable wallets, which allow users to interact directly with blockchains, decentralized finance, and tokenized assets without intermediaries controlling the relationship.
Technology Shift: Control, Data, and Embedded Finance
EY argues that firms failing to own or integrate deeply with the wallet layer risk becoming commoditized service providers, losing visibility into customer behavior and cross-selling opportunities. Wallet-centric models enable embedded finance, where payments, credit, rewards, and identity verification are seamlessly bundled into applications. In crypto ecosystems, wallets already function as gateways to trading, staking, lending, and governance, with leading platforms processing millions of transactions daily and generating valuable behavioral data that traditional banks struggle to access.
Regulatory Implications: Custody and Compliance Take Center Stage
The shift toward wallet ownership carries significant regulatory implications, particularly around custody, data protection, and consumer safeguards. Regulators increasingly expect firms offering wallet services to meet standards comparable to financial institutions, including capital requirements, transaction monitoring, and clear accountability. EY notes that firms able to embed compliance at the wallet level may gain a competitive advantage, as regulatory clarity becomes a prerequisite for scaling digital asset services to institutional and mass-market users.
Investor and Corporate Strategy: Retention Over Acquisition
From a strategic perspective, wallet control is increasingly viewed as a retention strategy rather than a growth gimmick. Acquiring users has become more expensive across fintech and crypto platforms, while churn remains high when customers can switch providers with minimal friction. By anchoring users within proprietary or deeply integrated wallets, firms can reduce attrition, personalize offerings, and capture a larger share of lifetime value. Investor sentiment reflects this shift, with capital flowing toward infrastructure providers that control user access points rather than standalone product layers.
Looking ahead, EY expects competition over wallet ownership to intensify as banks, fintechs, and crypto-native firms converge on the same customer base. The winners are likely to be those that balance usability, security, and regulatory compliance while delivering tangible value beyond basic transactions. For crypto investors, the warning underscores a structural reality of the digital economy: owning the wallet increasingly means owning the customer, reshaping how financial services are built, distributed, and monetized.
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