Digital Transformation in Banking: Current Trends

In the last few years, the face of banking has irrevocably changed. One of the examples is the emergence of a new banks breed known as “challenger banks” – financial institutions focused on providing exclusively digital services and minimizing customer interaction with a bank.

First introduced in the UK, the phenomenon of challenger banks has expanded immensely. Today, there are nearly two hundred challenger banks operating worldwide, and their number is growing. And this became possible with the rise of such innovative technologies as blockchain, AI, and others making their way into the banking sector.

So what is digital transformation in banking? In this blog post, we will overview 3 current digital banking trends in 2022, specifying changes each technology brings to the industry.

What Is Digital Transformation in Banking?

Digital banking transformation is a necessary step to improve how banks and other financial institutions learn about, communicate with, and meet the demands of their clients. To be more specific, knowing digital customer behavior, choices, and requirements is the first step towards a successful digital transformation.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cloud computing, the internet of things (IoT), robotic process automation (RPA), and virtual reality (VR) are rapidly enhancing the current financial landscape and expanding their reach into previously untouched domains:

• Banking operations analysis and risk management. A fraud detection system and multi-level transaction validation prevent potential customer and banking staff errors.
• Transaction times are reduced through quick operations. Microservice-based design in Big Data processing systems allows for quick and secure transaction processing.
• Data management with increased security. Banks are protected by data encryption systems from fraudulent cases of external and internal data leaking to hackers. Furthermore, the transactions are carried out in a secure manner.
• Predictive opportunities. Knowing what challenges are likely to arise in the future is crucial to your financial success. The reliable information on several scenarios of a global economic catastrophe will assist you in planning ahead of time. As a result, you’ll be able to make sound business decisions and implement successful Fintech solutions before moving your company to a more promising and financially rewarding industry.

What Are the Key Areas of Digital Transformation in Banking?

Customer Journey

Traditional customer journeys or sales pipelines frequently begin with marketing generating leads, then transferring those leads to sales, and finally to customer service. Before receiving a product or service, a person must go through multiple departments, resulting in a disjointed, disconnected, or often impersonal outcome.

Digital transformation allows you to build a more seamless and personalized customer journey. Creating a digital customer journey entails integrating everything into a single online platform so that the customer is dealt with using the same tools, by the same people, and with the same information throughout the process. Changing how teams are organized, integrating technical personnel into sales teams, and possibly merging marketing and retail into one team can all help a lot in this situation.

Understanding and investing in consumer demands and requirements is part of digital transformation in banking. It will, however, save you money in the long run because it enhances customer satisfaction, frees up employees for value-added activities like relationship building, and automates operations.

Digitalization and Big Data

Data is more abundant in modern banks than it has ever been. The more digital services you provide, the more data you will acquire automatically. This information enables you to make significant progress in terms of upgrading and managing your operating model, customer service, and even corporate strategy. Data enables you to gain a deeper understanding of your customers, allowing you to spot opportunities, improve products and services, and automate processes.

In banking, data mining and big data are used across the board, but sales and marketing are two of the most prominent areas that profit from the information supplied by a bank’s digital transformation strategy. Big data helps you to establish customized marketing campaigns or financial education programs based on consumer information. Analytics can predict when customers want or need loans, when loans default, when customers are about to depart, or even when a cross-sell or up-sell might be beneficial. As a result of this information, banks are able to provide highly customized offers and solutions, whether through a representative or as an automated solution through an app or web portal.

Focus on Change

While there are numerous facets of digital transformation in banking, one of the most crucial is the ability to adapt to change. Security, legislation, and tight procedures designed to protect client data and privacy sometimes hold banks back. In terms of growth and user acquisition, new digital-native banking products and apps are exceeding traditional banking. Digital transformation in banking necessitates adapting policies to match changing consumer demand, rapidly adapting to new technology, and responding to changes in the market.

Digital transformation in banking requires transforming the company from the inside out, focusing on how the business responds to change rather than on outward services like web portals and chatbots. To develop and maintain a truly digital organization, you’ll need both.

Many banks today are failing to achieve their own digital transformation objectives, proving that digital transformation is easier said than done. Banks can make this shift by changing their approach, replacing legacy frameworks, and actively developing a digital culture internally. Digital platforms and services, especially when enabled by automation, AI, Big Data, and blockchain technologies, can provide a significant lot of value to consumers.

Which Digital Banking Trends Will Be Dominant in 2022?

Each of the trendy techs highlighted below has already impacted the banking sector, continues to do it, and can also be considered as one of the digital banking future trends, as their influence on the industry will grow.

Digital Mobile Banking

In the modern world, quality customer service in banking is no longer associated with standalone buildings crowded with people. Instead, it is more focused on providing 24/7 distant services with reduced human interactions – both achievable with the emergence of banking mobile apps. In other words, the competition is for the easiest-to-use apps, where deposit checks, funds transfers, and applying for loa