Vritti December 2018 | Page 7

The Digital Financial Services Guide vritti December 2018 7 The Road Ahead for Banks It is evident that Digital Banking is the next big wave in the finance sector and before we conclude, it is imperative that we see how banks shall respond to this shift. To retain their market position, large incumbent banks should take the lead in transformation to Digital. Banks should start looking at this as a significant measure to increase their face value. This is no more an innovation stunt. Collaborate, not compete. Banks ought to tie-up with prominent fintech and/or technology providers. The agility and vision that these firms might bring to the banks is momentous. Regulate the need for branches. From a servicing platform, branches should transform to become an advisory and sales accentuation platform Let consumers define what the banks offer. Data and advanced analytics ought to be leveraged to gain useful customer insights. Research shows that Mastering of digital media, content marketing and marketing operations are going to be critical to a Bank's journey in Digital Banking. The saying, “banks will disappear, banking will not” is clearly coming to the fore. Time will tell how the Middle East is gearing to cope up with this shift. About the author: Ramkumar M is Engineer turned Management Graduate and has around 5 years of experience in Business Development. At Mahindra Comviva, he leads Middle East and North Africa's Enterprise Business Development of Mobile Financial Solutions Products. Prior to Comviva, he has worked as a developer at Cognizant Technology Solutions.