2030 - sounds like a distant future, right? A time where we live in an out of this world eutopia, money no longer exists, and AI does all the heavy lifting while we sip on champagne in the sun. Time to get with reality. Deloitte’s Bank of 2030: Transform boldly looks remarkably different to how we view banking today, so nearing the end of 2022 we’ve got some ground to make up - and quickly.
Deloitte envisions a world where technology will ‘drastically change’ the banking industry in the next decade, as cloud technology becomes more and more engrained in everything we do.
Time for experimenting is over, for banks to be successful the time to embrace the changing business environment is now.
9Spokes Senior Developer Dean Minifie who has worked within banking technology teams for a number of years feels much the same way, “I can't see them wanting to embrace it immediately, but they might not have a choice, and by the time they do it, they could be too late. keep up or sit at the back of the pack. Things are changing and you need to keep up with the times.”
It’s this sobering but true reality staring banks boldly in the face. 9Spokes who work with numerous banking clients have a goal of enhancing digital products to help legacy banks keep up with technological advancements. And there’s a very good reason for this – Deloitte points out the rate at which digital technology is evolving and the number of new business models that come with that. “Today’s advantage doesn’t come from being big, but from being fast and nimble”.
It’s that same sentiment shared by Minifie who has witnessed the ins and outs of some of the largest banks in the world, “A release cycle for a bank, they might do an update once a year or twice a year if that. And they think ‘if it ain't broke don't fix it’ because it's terrifying, right? Downtime for a banking system is probably pretty traumatic.”
Compare this to the way FinTechs like 9Spokes work “Decisions are made very quickly, and it's just feature, release, feature, release. That's not how a larger organization works”.
The solution for banks? The key is in collaboration and an effective integration strategy as the FinTech ecosystem grows. Deloitte Said, “Regulators, FinTechs, big techs, banks and others will need to work together as we move towards 2030. Each offers skills and services which others will need to serve customers.”
This advice is echoed inside 9Spokes from Minifie, “I’d definitely have an R&D team who would be talking with [FinTechs]. At a bare minimum you'd be investigating the direction the markets are taking, and definitely looking at integrating more tightly with third parties”.
From Deloitte’s point of view, technology is not only here to stay but will impact the FinTech space more than we can imagine as data grows in power - “Technology will continue be the driver to business growth and central to delivering a wide range of services through strong customer services”.
The banking world is quickly changing and the time for banks to act and embrace technology is now. 9Spokes plays a major role in connecting banks with SMB customers. 9Spokes’ selection of financial management modules address core pain points for SMBs and are designed to generate data and insights for lending operations and empowering bankers.