The pandemic has accelerated existing digitalisation trends in banking, giving banks more justification for not only closing branches but also consolidating. Many European banks struggled over the past decade to meet capital requirements introduced after the financial crisis. Consolidation through mergers and acquisitions is well underway, with the blessings of governments and regulators that view it as a means to streamline the financial sector and strengthen its profitability and resilience.
Frontline banks are fluid, responding to and better yet anticipating customers’ evolving requirements and preferences. The pandemic has accelerated the need for banks and consumers to interact with each other through digital channels. To compete in an increasingly competitive market, traditional banks must provide tailored solutions, cooperating with specialized partners to achieve specific goals. Banking-as-a-platform has become the new norm in the industry and the only way to keep up.
It has been an unusually eventful year for central banks all over the world in 2020, and given the current circumstances, the coming year is set to be no less busy. With a variety of challenges to overcome, therefore, central banks hope to achieve several important goals before the end of 2021.
On December 15, US bank Goldman Sachs announced what many believe to be the strongest restrictions on fossil-fuel activity by any major bank in the United States. Most notably, the bank has become the first big American lender to restrict financing on any part of the oil-and-gas sector, with a particular focus on protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The first week of August saw Facebook announce that it had drawn up proposals with major investment banks and credit-card companies to form data-sharing partnerships. According to the Wall Street Journal(WSJ),
Many banks have given up the fight and are working to get along with those fintech upstarts, but not regarding one area in particular: top-notch tech talent. When it comes to tech staff, the gloves are off, and banks are fighting to both recruit and hold on to the cream of the crop, recognizing how indispensable experienced professionals have become in the digital world.
“Equal pay for equal work” has been a familiar mantra, and law in many countries, for decades—but does reality coincide, especially in the world of finance? Various studies have revealed disturbing gender pay gaps, and the push is on for banks around the globe to disclose wage data according to gender and ethnicity, something many seem reluctant to do.
By John Manning, International Banker In early March, Ulster Bank announced that from October onwards, it will be closing nine…
Alberto Verome, Chairman of Citigroup EMEA, said that banks should get back to basics in a candid critique of the industry. Speaking at the VTB Capital investment forum, Russia Calling he said that Citigroup, as well as the rest of the banking industry, had made mistakes but that they are making amends.