Banker S.A. April 2014 | Page 57

FUTURE OF BANKING The bank of 2030 and beyond It’s not enough to change customer interfaces – banks will require new business models. T he financial crisis set the scene for a fundamental rethink of the role of modern banking and led to profound regulatory and business model changes. The consequences of these changes are far from clear. However, it is clear that a number of business models today are no longer fit for this purpose, and that substantive change is required across large parts of the banking industry. SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT BANK EXECUTIVES ARE GRAPPLING WITH ARE: • How can banks completely transform their cost bases, and therefore core processes, to realign their business models to the new normal? • What are a bank’s fundamental value proposition and core service offerings to be — does a bank now have to articulate a clear social purpose as well as acknowledge its stakeholder obligations? It is important not to underestimate the role of aligning cultures, behaviours and rewards in a manner that is satisfactory to all stakeholders. The types of service, functionality, experience and customer fulfilment provided by industries other than banking, are evolving rapidly and setting a high bar of expectation for banks to meet in the coming years. This raises important questions about how banks come to understand the costs of providing all of this in the rapidly evolving and costly regulatory environment of the future. Edition 9 Opinion2.indd 55 BANKER SA 55 2014/04/07 9:18 AM