Banks often have a lot of depth in their product offerings, but they have struggled to acquire scale. A significant portion of this is due to high operational expenses, which is a critical concern.

They battle rages on with out-of-date IT systems, product management procedures, and so on. It has so far prevented most banks in most countries from obtaining the scale required to effectively overcome the financial inclusion gaps.

More changes will occur in the banking business during the next decade than have occurred in the previous 100 years. This is due to a confluence of interconnected, structural causes, including demographic, socioeconomic, regulatory, and environmental changes.

People will likely live longer, change jobs more frequently, participate more in the sharing economy, be healthier, have better access to services to support mental and physical wellbeing, be more environmentally conscious, and be wealthier than their current counterparts as a result of these changes.

These changes will also be included into the Bank of the Future’s efforts to improve clients’ financial well-being, which will be upgraded beyond today’s capabilities.

At its core, improving financial wellbeing will be structured around assisting customers in achieving the following goals: meeting their financial obligations; having financial freedom to make choices to enjoy life; controlling their finances; and having financial security, even in adverse circumstances.

Digital disruption in the financial industry is driven by causes on both the supply side, namely technology improvements, and the demand side, primarily changes in customer service expectations. Internet application programming interfaces (APIs), cloud computing, smartphones, digital currencies, and blockchain technology are all important technical supply variables.

The four key aspects that will increase financial services’ capacity to provide better financial well-being are as follows:

Data

As common products (and even ourselves) become connected to the internet, this will become more readily available, and the Consumer Data Right will apply to all sectors of the economy (beyond Open Banking). Its significance will grow enormously as diverse types of data combine to give a holistic 360-degree narrative about our lives. Customers will begin to use its significance to extract more value from the products and services supplied to them, while also expecting increased levels of security and openness around how their data is handled.

Business Models

Data availability will drive new entrants such as Neobanks and ‘over the top’ banking solutions. At the same time, prominent banks will look for possibilities outside of their core operations to expand their business models. While participants in other industries will begin combining financial services with their own, industry boundaries will continue to disappear.

Regulation

These big transformations will need governments and regulatory organizations devising entirely new methods of identifying and managing risks, regulating activities undertaken by a greater variety of players, and judging them based on the outcomes they give to consumers.

Technology

This is both an enabler and a driver of change, and we can already identify the technologies that will have the most influence on the financial services industry in the next 10-15 years. These are Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Biometrics, 5G, Cloud computing, Internet of Things, AR/VR, and Quantum computing, which are altering both the nature and delivery of services.

Four factors of Business Model significance

Cost – How the business strategy reduces the cost of financial products or services for suppliers to supply and for underserved clients to utilize.

  • Lowering of operating costs
  • Lowering of end user fees
  • More flexible payments offer
  • Reducing the need for expensive devices
  • Requiring less or cheaper connectivity
  • Reducing the need for collateral

Access – How it makes financial goods or services more available and usable to underserved clients. Whether it is the physical access, internet access, or product eligibility.

  • Expanding eligibility through innovative means of risk assessment
  • Requiring less interaction at physical transaction points

Product Fit – How it improves financial goods to better meet the requirements and desires of underserved clients.

  • Addressing a customer need not served by typical products.
  • Allowing greater customization to different contexts, user needs and preferences.
  • Enjoying higher general trust and satisfaction from users

Experience – How easy are the products to use?

  • Having product features that are easier to access, understand and compare.
  • Having an interface easier for most customers to understand and use.
  • Helping the users identify, understand, and resolve problems.
  • Give the user control over data
  • Stronger technical security

Go digital, but faster!

Without a doubt, many smaller segments of financial institutions now see digital transformation as an opportunity rather than a necessity. The acceleration of digital transformation will help them improve their services and fulfil the needs of modern customers. However, they confront several challenges, risks, and gaps:

  • Complex and non-customized financial products and experiences
  • Adopting digital at scale
  • Changing customer profile
  • Legacy systems
  • Meeting compliance requirements
  • Lack of scalable resources

New age mediums and the new normal have created a need to use the possibilities of the digital environment in banking. While challenger banks take advantage of this opportunity to offer their clients digitally, incumbent banks are being compelled to emerge into the spotlight in order to maintain solid customer connections.

In 60 days, you can become a 100 percent digital-centric bank. Our digital implementation comes in two variants. One, with the MVP – Minimum Viable Product – strategy, which includes only the elements required for the bank’s clients to use the digital ecosystem. Second, allowing the bank to enter the digital space for extended services.

Banks must respond to individual customer desires for control and knowledge.

Consumer requirements will persist in the future, and top banks will be required to provide the following key elements:

Simple – Assist the customer with decluttering and defragmenting his life.

Smart – Know the customer as well as the information you have on them and assist them in achieving their goals and mastering their financial life.

Secure – Protect the customer’s money, identity, and data in an increasingly untrustworthy environment.

Customers will continue to have to save, borrow, invest, and pay, with digital technology and financial literacy assisting them in finding smarter and better ways. Consumer savviness will fuel an intense and urgent new competition between incumbents and innovators to be their trusted interface of choice. At the same time, technology is expected to make banks more inconspicuous. Banking operations will frequently be buried within ‘super-apps’ that may fulfil everyday personal and financial duties with a tap as we advance toward a completely linked way of living.