With the pandemic changing how we invest and financial firms keen to digitalise further, robo-advisory has taken off. Although 2022 has witnessed affluent investors returning to traditional wealth-management channels, the impacts of COVID and financial-sector digitalisation are expected to sustain significant growth in robo-advisory.

Banks and financial institutions are among the most regulated organisations in the free world and are encouraged to take the question of risk extremely seriously. This precautionary principle extends to IT architectures where the notion of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” holds sway. Change equates to risk and risk is something banks need to manage carefully.

Asia has led the rest of the world in developing the super-app, which offers its users a single interface to perform an increasingly diverse range of ordinary tasks in daily life. Will such apps prove as popular in the West? By providing a growing list of essential financial services, what impact will super-apps have on traditional banks?

The Fed and the US government are making more noise over the potential creation of a central bank digital currency. Unlike cryptocurrency, a digital dollar would be legal tender and need to meet policy objectives. Congressional approval would be required, which might be tricky given the privacy concerns associated with digital currency.