Before we even discovered the meaning of the word pandemic, in early 2020, Retail Banks were experiencing declining Operating Profits, a downward trend consistent with the previous years. Pressure on interest income and evolved consumer expectations made the physical channel a prime target for restructuring. Financial Institutions reduced the size of their branch networks drastically to retain operating costs. At the same time, investment in digital channels increased because of their lower cost per transaction, ease of access and overall agility.

Digital engagement tools improve lead generation campaigns, with a personalized and instant experience that leads to higher customer satisfaction. The growth in digital channels, however, did not fully cover for the downturn in branch activity in 2021. Furthermore, many banks witnessed an increase in branch activity in 2021, while customers seek and value the advisory role of banks in their purchase decision process for complex financial products. Digital channels have proven their ability to fulfill account service needs optimally, but are they alone sufficient to sustain and grow sales of retail banking products?

During this session, panelists will discuss the importance of embedding the branch into a digitally driven sales model and what are the operational requirements that enhance the branches’ advisory and relationship building role.

As we move towards a ‘digital first’ economy, customers have thousands of financial institutions and banking services available at their fingertips which makes it easy for them to select the best bank for different products. With Banks under the most extreme pressure ever seen, becoming the bank of choice has never been more important as customers expect their banks to act more like top technology brands than traditional financial institutions and provide an experience that is fast, transparent, and seamless. If banks want to become the primary financial institution for their customers, they must identify how they can capture consumers and nurture those relationships to build loyalty. However, becoming a primary financial institution involves much more than persuading customers to open an account.

This panel discussion will provide an industry view covering where the digital banking market is today and where is headed and how global connections are driving innovation forward for the entire industry. Panelists will share a perspective of what banks can and should get right to create new experiences and business models to become an important part of a customers’ lifestyle rather than simply offering a place where customers can go just to do their banking.

To date, banks have made incremental efforts to streamline their operations since new technologies are drastically changing the banking and capital markets industry in the front, middle, and back office. And customers are becoming more familiar with fintech as the sector continues to revolutionize bill payment, e-commerce and other services. New technologies, like AI, data and automation along with the use of the cloud and APIs, can accelerate their efforts well beyond small efficiencies toward the long-held dream of “zero operations”. So, the question is how can banks leverage everything that has worked so far and combine new approaches to solve today’s challenges and plan for strategic ways to secure their place in customers’ daily lives?

During this panel, we will explore how banks can take this opportunity to assess the security and convenience of their digital offerings and create new target-operating models that move from table stakes to transformation, resulting in improved revenue, cost efficiencies and client delight.

Before we even discovered the meaning of the word pandemic, in early 2020, Retail Banks were experiencing declining Operating Profits, a downward trend consistent with the previous years. Pressure on interest income and evolved consumer expectations made the physical channel a prime target for restructuring. Financial Institutions reduced the size of their branch networks drastically to retain operating costs. At the same time, investment in digital channels increased because of their lower cost per transaction, ease of access and overall agility.

Digital engagement tools improve lead generation campaigns, with a personalized and instant experience that leads to higher customer satisfaction. The growth in digital channels, however, did not fully cover for the downturn in branch activity in 2021. Furthermore, many banks witnessed an increase in branch activity in 2021, while customers seek and value the advisory role of banks in their purchase decision process for complex financial products. Digital channels have proven their ability to fulfill account service needs optimally, but are they alone sufficient to sustain and grow sales of retail banking products?

During this session, panelists will discuss the importance of embedding the branch into a digitally driven sales model and what are the operational requirements that enhance the branches’ advisory and relationship building role.

Accelerated by the pandemic, the shift to a cashless society and the rising role of payments as more than simply an exchange of value for goods and services creates a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the payments industry to lead in financial services. Many people adopted digital behaviors, accelerating the proliferation of mobile-first digital economies, and rendering cash even less relevant to daily life than it already was. And given the key role digitization plays in the financial lives of more and more of the world’s population, electronic payments are at the epicenter of this transformation. This discussion will focus on the (r)evolution of payments ecosystem and the key themes that are influencing it. What kinds of solutions are trending? How the payments players respond to these trends and which areas of regulation are they most concerned about?

The past couple of years have been very challenging for most small businesses, but industry-wide efforts to simplify payment processing fee structures, ramp up customer support and speed up payments have had positive effects on merchant services satisfaction.

Future-oriented growth in this space is to create an upgraded ‘Merchant Acquirer’ that will deliver value-added services to existing customers and create new business opportunities in the SME market. Merchants’ priorities naturally shift from prioritizing the lowest transaction costs to delivering premium services, on top of commodity merchant acquiring. They are ready to pay for services like loyalty, affiliate marketing, integration of payments with business applications, enhanced self service solutions and increased approval rates, especially when they result in greater customer engagement or revenue uplift. On the other hand, there is still the SME market that is today under-served but will have more and more need for payment services.

In this fast-paced discussion, a panel of distinguished banking professionals will share insights and opinions on the current situation and predict the short- and long-term effects for the Merchant acquiring business, discussing how last year’s carve out of the Banking sector will transform customers experience, and what might be the impact on financial institutions and payment processors. We will also hear about the new business models in acquiring and what is their prediction about the latest trends on microfinancing services (Buy-Now-Pay-Later), Variable recurring payments (VRPs) & Instant payments.