Every finance department is facing the same challenge, no matter their size, expertise or industry. New technologies are entering the workplace, changing the way we work and completely upending business models. Nowadays, consumers are ‘always on,’ demanding rapid service and communications. People want to subscribe to products, rather than buy them. Even investors are asking a lot, for example insisting companies precisely predict demand to keep the bottom line lean.
Why would anyone choose to work for a bank in the Digital Age? For several reasons. According to one chief innovation officer, if you enjoy challenge, energy, innovation, agility then the right bank is the right place for you. As banks face a pivotal moment, warding off inventive challengers on every side, the secret to their longevity resides in customer-centricity. Product value is still important, but so is consumer gratification.
Societies face a stark reality: their 65-plus members are claiming a rapidly increasing population share. Japan may be the guinea pig in this predicament; in the Land of the Rising Sun, the death rate already eclipses the birthrate. How the innovation-savvy Japanese respond will be a model for other countries that will follow in their footsteps. Will Japan’s empathy for its elders be duplicated elsewhere, especially in financial industries?
Innovations in technology have transformed the way we bank in our personal lives. Now, as long as we have a Wi-Fi connection and a mobile phone, tablet or laptop to hand, we are able to check our balances, make payments and transfer money anywhere at any time.
Without regulations, digitalisation is not feasible. New rules and laws are a headache for banks and increase the administrative burden while reducing client satisfaction. But they also create transparency and openness, which can lead to new and improved financial services. The challenge is how to provide new services in a customer-centric way. Regtech may be the solution.
In any battle, being adequately armed is crucial to winning. Banks, faced with an onslaught from fraudsters intent on breaking into customer accounts, have no choice but to stay one step ahead with the latest in innovative fraud-protection financial technology; this is essential not only to keep losses down but to retain customer trust.
Businesses in all industries across the globe, both large and small, are increasingly incorporating technology into their operations in order to improve efficiency, lower costs and generate higher returns. The adoption of outsourcing in the banking sector across various business functions
Often ambitious fintechs are viewed as competitors to traditional banks rather than potential partners. It is true that these agile newcomers can do what banks can do better in some specific areas, but incumbents still have many advantages over these disruptors, and what often works best is when the two work together.
Winning the war for talent will define banks’ success in a landscape increasingly shaped by disruptive challengers, but the lacklustre efforts of many at embracing innovation put them at risk of being left behind.
With the number of reports suggesting that fintechs are bad news for banks, it may come as a surprise, that the opposite is in fact true. Fintechs may actually be the best thing to happen to traditional banks and the banking sector for a long time. No, really.