Are the banks ready for tomorrow?

All the banks around the world are trying to evolve with the ever evolving trends of the banking sector. Middle Eastern banks are racing to catch up the technology updates shaping the way they operate and serve their customers. And one such financial institute Deloitte, recently launched their reports which has the strategies and key techs used in the banking sector by those in the top charts to the ones that will form the bridge tomorrow and also the ones over the horizon.

The report, ‘The evolving trends’ suggests that the middle eastern financial institutions were actually evolving at am impressive pace changing customer expectations and highly competing with the incumbent banks as well as the new entrants with evolving rapport and advancing tech pre Covid.  “In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 upended those conventions. As the threat and uncertainty from COVID-19 will remain for the foreseeable future, banks have no choice but to remain hyper vigilant and rewrite their business continuity playbooks as circumstances change. While it is reassuring to see some aggressive fiscal and monetary policy responses around the world already, clarity on how these actions will stabilize markets and accelerate the path to normalcy is slowly emerging, and in some cases yet to emerge”, said Khaled Hilmi, Consulting Partner, ME Financial Services industry leader, Deloitte Middle East.

Adopting the latest technologies like Cloud platforms, artificial intelligence, cognitive techs can helps the financial industries move faster to the trend of digitization. Meeting customer expectations to remain competitive in today’s challenging business environment is the ultimate goal. In order to achieve that there are certain keys which might unlock a better future for the finance industries.

To star with cloud computing, it is a cloud based service with which the banks are able to reduce the data storage costs by saving on capital expenditure ( CAPEX ) and the operating index (OPEX ), while assuring that the consumer data is secure. Cloud is an essential tool of today’s service delivery model, which is giving fresh business opportunities and new access points of delivery. Next is artificial intelligence ( AI ) and it is a part of every business environment and being reinventing the entire ecosystem of the banking sector. AI supports decision-making, enhances the customer experience, and improves operational efficiency, this is now absolutely needed more than ever due to data influx from a wide range of source. Fintech companies have defined the direction, shape and pace of change across almost every banking subsector. Customers now expect seamless digital onboarding, rapid loan approvals, and free person-to-person payments, all innovations that FinTech made popular. Next is block chain technology and it being associated distributed ledgers were devised as a simple yet smart solution to keep track of the Bitcoin crypto currency in circulation. The solution leveraged a ‘distributed ledger’ architecture under which all users who participated as ‘nodes’ in the network had a copy of the entire ledger. Banks need to actively consider the immediate needs of their customers and simultaneously the multiple near, short and medium-term operational, financial, and regulatory risk and compliance implications. Banks that have embraced today’s technologies may be better placed to weather this crisis and facilitate a quick return to recovery. Now more than ever, the accelerated adoption of these technologies can enable the industry to recover and thrive from the impact of COVID-19,” concludes Khaled Hilmi.