One asset that financial institutions do not lack is data. They are keepers of massive volumes of customer data. But storing and managing data has not provided them with all of its potential value; banks are increasingly enhancing management with analytics to gain maximum advantage from data. Better cost optimization, greater regulatory compliance, improved user enablement and informed decision-making are only a few of the benefits of this coordinated approach.

Human beings are wary of machines, especially when entrusting them with the most important aspects of their lives, such as finances. But as machine-learning and artificial-intelligence technologies become more sophisticated, learning from human brains, they are proving that when programmed correctly, they offer a wide range of advantages, especially in banking. The more human beings use them, the more successful they become in achieving what they were created to accomplish.

Imagine a time when banks functioned without computers. It’s literally unimaginable. The computer has become the banker’s best friend. Today, banking is on the brink of another great leap in innovation that may re-create the industry as we know it: quantum computing. Based on quantum mechanics, this developing technology promises lightning-fast processing speeds that boggle the mind. But before vision becomes reality, much preparation work still needs to be completed.

Inspired by a wave of disruptive digital innovation, the last decade has witnessed perhaps the most rapid evolutionary change ever within the global banking system. Thanks mostly to a combination of greatly heightened expectations from banking customers and the sustained development of the financial-technology (fintech) sector,