Redefining banking in the post-COVID era
The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has led to a huge slump in the global economy, affecting individual lives. However, the crisis arising due to the pandemic offers an opportunity to various industries to reconsider digital renewal for better business prospects, the banking sector is no exception. The current situation has driven digital acceleration in the banking/financial sector at a massive scale; the innovations and digital trends which were planned for the next few years are already made available. The pandemic has a significant role to play in transforming the way the banking industry operates.
The new era of digital transformation is changing the business models of banks for better infrastructural and operational efficiencies. The new models will offer smart, efficient, and more resilient solution to suit the requirements of the modern crowd.
New trends in the banking/financial sector
The technological advancement in the banking sector has emerged over the last two decades. But, the kind of advancement we have witnessed in the last year is much more than one could imagine. The restricted movement of people across national and international boundaries to curb the infection caused by COVID-19 had led banks to shift to digital services. Though digital banking has been around for some time, the increasing awareness on contactless payments has seen an increase of more than 40% digital users. This trend is changing and will continue to change the banking and economic exchange ecosystem even after the pandemic is over.
The new trends of banking during and after COVID times:
Smart banking: Smart banking is the emerging trend that has revolutionized the banking industry that offers an exceptional service to the customers like never before. Smart banking offers greater convenience, speed, and personalized service by leveraging digital technology. Smart banking is the use of digital platform with omnichannel experience to reshape the banking ecosystem. This includes all kinds of digital banking landscapes like online banking and mobile banking. This is the current and future trend that allows the customers to enjoy ‘banking-on-the-go’ without having to visit the branch.
Smart banking is part of the growth strategy implemented by almost all banks. This has led to some banks coming up with the concept digital bank which operates digitally without any physical branch. They offer advanced facilities like digital credit cards, digital cheques, online loan origination, process, and closure. Smart banking systems are strengthening the core of banking operations and making them resilient for the future.
Intelligent workspace: To support the huge disruption the banking sector is experiencing, more and more banks are embracing the digital workplace to keep up with the pace. To ensure the digital workplace performs without any glitches, banks are further investing in Cloud computing, security, and performance.
The intelligent workplace enables banks to offer 24/7 service, greater convenience, accuracy, ease, and consistency. It also offers greater opportunities for banks to collaborate with third-party Fintechs and improve their services at the digital front. The new workplace helps in reducing the infrastructural cost, productivity challenges, and offers cutting edge technology for unique, personalized services.
Test automation: The growing number of digital banking users have put banks/financial institutions in immense pressure to develop and deploy systems that are user-friendly and work without any flaws. The traditional method of software testing, where testers were considered for support functions have to now operate as an independent team to ensure the quality of the developed software is exceptional. Software test automation is the ideal solution for banks to achieve greater stability, scalability, accuracy, consistency, and responsiveness.
There are a number of test automation tools in the market, the popular ones are LamdaTest, Tricentis, and Eggplant among others. However, if you are looking for a banking/financial specific test automation solution you should consider Tenjin by Yethi. It is popular among the BFSI fraternity for offering banking and financial specific testing solutions.
Smart integrations: With the rapid pace at which technological advancements are evolving, banks have to adapt to the future trends today to keep up with these ever-evolving changes. Hence, smart integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and predictive learning are being incorporated in the banking systems/processes to eliminate any error and offer a flawlessly working system. These advanced technologies are also being used to improve the banking process for positive business outcomes.
Improved operating models: The digital-driven banks have evolved to a point where the traditional business models are obsolete and will not serve any purpose. Banks are revamping their business strategy to incorporate new operating models to suit the modern-day requirements. Banks have reshaped their operating models to integrate advanced models such as open platforms, Fintech collaborations, fully-fledged aggregators, and infrastructure providers.
The future of digital banking
The banking sector had to cover a long technological journey to reach where it is today; the future too looks quite promising with the new trends expected soon. Furthermore, advancements in digitization are already changing the banking landscape with better solutions for financial transactions, payment solutions, credit origination, and a lot more. According to a survey, it was estimated nearly $10billion was invested in 2018 to digitize the banking sector alone. Therefore, this trend will continue to rule the market in the longer run.
The digital revolution started during the COVID times will further change the scope of banking, with digital banking already seeing a tremendous spike in the number of user over the last year. The future sees the full potential of offering an easy, efficient, and seamless service to the end-users.
