Banking trends for 2017 are following already significant changes from 2016 including the UK Brexit, the US election, and India’s demonetisation all giving a sense of anti-establishment rebellion. 2017 is expected to be a year of more disruption, and more change as banks accelerate plans, driven by new leadership focused on technology to confirm who re the market leaders.
The Chatbot
Chatbots are software programmes that pretend to be people, that you are able to interact with via text or voice. Rule-based chatbots respond to specific commands, whilst Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots respond to natural language. The chatbot will keep the customer at the core of the business.
In 2016 leading banks including Santander, and Bank of America rolled out chatbots, but 2017 will see their use spread as banks work with technology partners to develop chatbot solutions to further develop conversations with clients.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) firms will flourish in 2017 as they develop financial service systems that learn, adapt and respond autonomously. Banks will seek to use these technologies to reduce costs, by automating mundane processes, and differentiating service levels through personal data insights. This needs deep understanding of traditional processes, and technical capability, plus the skill to combine the two.
Throughout 2017, the banking industry is expected to launch a range of robo-advisory investing services for novice investors as well as more astute investors. Investor services will not be fully automated within Wealth Management firms, or private banks where retaining the human element remains of value.
Market and organisational change in banking
Banks are still working towards fully integrating digital transformation programmes that has real, and meaningful change for customers. Bank structures will change to mirror industry changes, with leaders needing to be technology experts. In 2017, the financial technology start-up market is expected to shrink slightly.
Open app banking
Many banks and insurers will begin to launch their own app marketplaces in 2017. Firms will be empowered by recent open, unified, multichannel integration to reap the rewards of a changing demand for financial services from an increasing millennial population.
Blockchain
Blockchain solutions are not expected to go mainstream in 2017, but global financial institutions and technology providers will continue investing on capital markets blockchain. 2017 will continue to be a year of Blockchain experimentation, with banks continuing to work together to apply the technology to gain competitive and cost advantages.