As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, financial institutions all across the world are under intense pressure to improve efficiency, reduce costs and boost productivity. Indeed, there is now a considerable global need for the financial-services industry to evolve comprehensively from traditional, age-old business models.
“We have only just overcome the liquidity phase of the crisis in countries that are now relaxing restrictions. In many others, the health crisis is still acute. And the epidemic could flare up again anywhere,” the general manager, Agustin Carstens, of Bank for International Settlements (BIS) acknowledged in late June whilst discussing the Bank’s 2020 “Annual Economic Report”.
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.
Thanks to key advances being made within the realm of fintech (financial technology), the term democratisation of finance has become perhaps the most important of all from a global-development perspective in recent years. But truth be told, the actual democratisation process can mean different things to different people.
With COVID-19 still dominating the narrative across the global banking industry, arguably the biggest challenge lenders will face in 2021 is how best to maximise the customer experience amidst such a challenging environment. Indeed, given the low interest rates that have continued to weigh heavily on banks’ net interest income (NII)
The COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 a truly singular year. With a deep global recession resulting from strict lockdown measures being implemented throughout much of the world, there has been little for investors to cheer. But with signs that the worst may be mostly behind us, an increasing number of opportunities will undoubtedly present themselves as we move into 2021.
Banks around the world have been crucial throughout 2020 in stabilising their respective economies. They have ensured that liquidity continues to be transmitted to the real economy, which in turn has helped to prevent a full-blown credit crisis from emerging as happened during the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
It’s fair to say that 2020 has been among the most consequential years ever for the fintech (financial technology) industry. Thanks in no small part to a deadly pandemic that swept across much of the world, consumers, households and businesses alike have all had to depend on the digital world a whole lot more than at any time previously.
The role of the central bank in maintaining the stability of a nation’s financial system is paramount at all times, but especially during a crisis of the magnitude of COVID-19. Around the world, policymakers have intentionally shut down their economies for the greater good of public health. What specific emergency measures have the world’s top central banks taken to confront this truly unique peril to both physical and financial well-being?
We all love to be popular, but banks could forgo the increasingly sophisticated attention of cyber-criminals who are employing the latest technologies to commit cyber-theft, with the financial industry as their favourite target. Can banks do anything to protect themselves, or are they helpless victims of this new breed of bank thief? Fortunately, there are practical steps that banks—and customers—can take to strengthen their armour against cyber-security breaches.