A roadmap to the future: making personalised banking a reality

At the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, digital transformation went from hot topic to strategic priority in all industries, banking very much included. “If the pace of the pre-coronavirus world was already fast, the luxury of time now seems to have disappeared completely. Businesses that once mapped digital strategy in one- to threeyear phases must now scale their initiatives in a matter of days or weeks,” said McKinsey analysts in April, adding that the COVID-19 crisis offered a sudden glimpse into a digital-first future. Organisations of all sizes and geographies seem to have got the memo.

According to PwC’s COVID-19 CIO Survey, 41% of organisations had IT cost cuts on their agenda, looking at cutback targets as high as 30-40%. Yet, more than half of technology leaders said that investing in better digital customer experiences and innovation-driven business models would remain a top priority all through 2021. In a joint global banking survey conducted by Temenos and The Economist Intelligence Unit, 45% of banking executives planned to build a “true digital ecosystem” as a strategic response to the corona crisis, relying both on in-house digital innovation and third-party solutions.

So how are they doing?

Could do better, new research suggests. On the surface, banks seem to be quite enthusiastic about driving digital banking transformation, but paradoxes remain, the 2020 Digital Banking Report has found. Especially when it comes to business priorities, strategies, investments and talent. In fact, three of banks’ lowest priorities – leveraging advanced technology, streamlining operations and cultural overhaul – are key to making digitalisation efforts a success. While 75% of respondents saw digital transformation as a top post-pandemic priority, it’s painfully clear that only a few of them are doing it right.

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