Banks that had not invested much in digital transformation are now, with COVID-19 on the scene, wishing they had. Digital automation has become a necessity to provide financial products and services in a socially distant world, and smart banks are making the most of the many technologies at their disposal. Speed, agility, personalization, security and, of course, cost savings are positive reinforcements to the financial industry’s push to transform itself.
The banking industry of Greece, along with the population, was put through its paces during the past decade, as financial troubles snowballed into a national crisis. One of Greece’s long-established traditional banks, National Bank of Greece, withstood the turmoil to emerge today as its country’s pioneer in digital innovation, leading its millions of customers into a future filled with hope for greater choice, efficiency and satisfaction in their banking experiences.
Change is as much a part of life as breath itself, and that’s true in banking. Already in the midst of transforming itself to meet the expectations of its increasingly digitally inclined customer base better, COVID-19 gave it a swift kick that has expedited those adjustments. As society transitions into the “new normal”, what are some of the positive changes in banking that will remain even as the virus wanes?
A global crisis is the litmus test of a bank’s fitness to serve its customers. In Belgium, bank-insurer KBC Group has proven throughout the COVID-19 upheaval that it is equipped to weather the storm and make lasting improvements that will outlive the pandemic into the future. Guided by its PEARL+ cultural philosophy and dedication to digitalisation, KBC continues to help all of its stakeholders realise their dreams while protecting them.
Belgium’s bank-insurer KBC Group has learned through experience that thinking differently and aiming for the next level is the surest way to meet its goals of enabling customers as they realize their dreams and protecting them as they progress. In our interview, CEO Johan Thijs explains how KBC is leading through one of the most challenging times the financial and insurance industries have experienced, with its focus trained on customers.
Nordea Bank Apb, based in Finland, has proved that banks can be their customers’ greatest financial support in times of crisis. Long committed to assisting customers to realize their dreams, Nordea has taken proactive steps to ensure that their clients continue to not only survive but thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic. In our interview, CEO Frank Vang-Jensen describes the bank’s resolute commitment to go one step further for its customers.
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,
While banks are easy targets to blame, the recent leaks of suspicious-activity reports—revealed by BuzzFeed News in September—instead confirmed that they are fulfilling their roles in the fight against international money laundering. Rather, it is the whole system that is on the verge of collapse and needs to be rethought.
In June, The Atlantic published “The Looming Bank Collapse”, a piece by University of California, Berkeley law professor and ex-Morgan Stanley derivatives structurer Frank Partnoy, which generated significant debate over whether a banking crisis in the same mould as that witnessed during the global financial crisis (GFC) is just around the corner.
The Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors (the Fed) in the United States concluded its two-day monetary-policy meeting on Wednesday, September 16, announcing that interest rates will remain unchanged at near-zero (0-0.25 percent), another decidedly dovish signal that its monetary policy will effectively be on hold for the next few years.