Top trends in Banking and Financial Service

As many Banking and Financial Service institutions deal with economic uncertainty, a restrictive regulatory environment, fierce competition, technology-driven disruptions, and updating legacy processes to meet changing customer requirements, improving Return on Equity (RoE) has received a lot of attention in the industry up until recently. However, as more and more financial institutions reinvest savings from efficiency measures and strategic cost programmes into investments, notably in technology, banks are placing a new emphasis on innovation. Additionally, the industry is turning its focus to sustainable growth strategies as a result of increased performance, stronger RoEs, and a good sales momentum. In order to reap a variety of advantages, BFS organizations are investigating alternate operating models and assessing cutting-edge technologies.

Understanding the changes being made by Banking and Financial Services institutions to remain relevant in the future is made simpler by taking a look at some of the major themes that are reshaping the BFS industry. These tendencies include the continuous digital transformation, the rise of FinTech businesses, the expanding application of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), and reexamining the idea of money.

Focusing More Immediately on Digital Transformation

In order to improve operational efficiencies, accelerate time to market, and provide improved client experiences, the sector is focusing persistently and aggressively on digitization and the use of new and emerging technologies. Banks are spending less on branches3 in order to invest in self-service digital channels as clients increasingly prefer mobile and online banking. Banks are increasingly able to provide customers specialised services thanks to wearable technology that incorporates the computational power of smartphones.

Development of FinTech Businesses

Many Banking and Financial Service are attempting to take advantage of the possibilities offered by digital, either by utilizing the technologies internally or by collaborating with FinTech firms. These companies were first perceived as rivals taking advantage of the BFS sector's inability to keep up with technological improvements in BPO Company. However, partnerships between banks and fintech companies are becoming more commonplace today, with the latter offering marketing, management, loan servicing, and other services to enable banks to provide tech-enabled banking products. Other benefits of cooperation between banks and fintech companies are also coming to light for banks, such as access to resources and clientele. As a result, these collaborations are starting to alter the financial services industry.

Developing the Business' Cognitive Side

While client demands and competition pressures lead banks to fully embrace digitization, performance demands force lenders to cut costs and maintain good operating margins. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are assisting banks in effectively addressing these limits as new regulatory requirements and data protection legislation add extra stress to already limited resources. In fact, several innovative BFS organizations are already experimenting with various AI use cases in their business processes. Banks are seeing the dual benefits of cost optimization and operational improvement, from deploying AI to power chatbots and offer round-the-clock, agile customer support to utilizing the technology for important tasks like anti-fraud and regulatory compliance.

Reevaluating the Value of Money

Blockchain and other emerging technologies are quietly challenging the conventional economic value provided by the BFS sector. Peer-to-peer financing, smart contracts, and digital payments on the blockchain are upending the very underpinnings of conventional business structures while also removing middlemen and speeding up core procedures. A growing number of banks are implementing blockchain in commercial production as it is predicted to save yearly operating expenses for the BFS sector by up to USD 20 Billion6. In addition to blockchain, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple are gradually gaining popularity and raising concerns about the necessity of actual currency.

The Future of the Industry Relies on Transformation

While it is obvious that Banking and Financial Service should use technology more frequently going forward, there are still a number of execution-related issues. Banks and other financial institutions should redefine themselves as nimble technology businesses operating in the financial services sector, not the other way around, in order to be most effective. This suggests that BFS organizations should eliminate their non-core businesses, keeping only those that truly differentiate for customers. As client tastes, demographics, and lifestyles change, banks will also need to look at the fundamentals supporting their core operations. The ability of banks to alter themselves quickly and nimbly, as well as their future strategies to survive the next revolution, will define winners and losers in this technologically advanced future as they continue to deal with the advancements that have already had an influence.