It is hard to believe that we just wrapped up another year. The beginning of a new year is one of the best times to both reflect on the previous years successes, while looking ahead at what the biggest challenges, priorities and opportunities will be for companies as they enter the new year.
The issuance of new regulation is not always met with elation, but financial and accounting industries in the European Union have reason to applaud the new PSD2, as it brings advantages for customers and businesses alike. Although the advantages for customers are clearer, such as increased control over their personal data, banks, too, will benefit from such features as better data, increased security and, in the end, more satisfied customers.
The current decade has not been kind to Greece’s financial sector, which has been beset by one crisis after another. And yet, from the rubble, a fully digital bank has arisen, the first in the country. In our interview, Praxia bank’s CEO Anastasia Sakellariou describes what it is like to create a bank with a vision to meet its customers’ needs solely through digital channels while remaining completely human.
Once upon a time, traditional banks could depend on customer loyalty, no matter what. A bank was the one-stop-shop for all things related to consumer finance. Not anymore. Not now that neobanks and fintechs are competing for the same consumers. Although bank customers are reluctant to move their financial business, banks are being increasingly challenged to address their needs first, which is all working out to their advantage.
The word revolution isn’t used lightly, so when we are told that we are in the midst of Industrial Revolution 4.0, we can expect to see major changes—especially in that most fundamental of industries, banking. Providing guidance to their 33,000 strong membership, in the midst of the upheaval, is the UK’s Chartered Banker Institute, which through multiple avenues is preparing bank professionals, current and future, to serve their customers well during the transformation.
Banks are a mixed bag when it comes to utilising technology’s full potential: some are taking full advantage while some are trying, and often struggling, to apply technology to their existing businesses.
In 2018, MPs announced a planned inquiry into several major IT failures that plagued banks with various subsequent issues within their services. A Treasury Select Committee will look at how financial services companies deal with service disruption or stop it from happening altogether.
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?
With the new year comes new priorities for business and technology leaders, new trends to look out for and new best practices and ideas. While it can be hard to sift through all of the information to understand what it is that will have the biggest, most positive impact on your financial organization
Make no mistake about it: Open banking will transform how the financial industry operates. The movement has yet to realize its potential, but the shift toward rich, data-led customer experiences is just around the corner.