Let’s go Beyond Banking
What happens when developers, customers, startups and bank employees team up to play and experiment with a bank’s building blocks?
Shift
Banking as you know it is about to become a concept from the past. New technologies, (fintech) startups, changing customer behaviour and regulations force banks to respond and shift to a new era. Five years ago only techies were occupied with themes such as Blockchain, Fintech and Lean Startup, whereas today these are daily business and an integral part of the bank’s corporate strategy.
Redundant
Will traditional banks become redundant as a result of these disruptive innovative newcomers? Will Fintech startups with only a few designers, developers and a growth hacker on their payroll play a decisive role in the future landscape of finance? Will Artificial Intelligence replace human advisers in finance? You might think it’s science fiction but it’s not — it is already happening.
Don’t believe the hype!
Or could it be that traditional banks do play an important role in the future of finance, contrary to what most fintech gurus want us to believe? Might people still be reluctant to store their savings with a startup, where most of them go out of business within two years? And what about people who prefer not to do their banking digitally? Where can they go? Besides that, will there be any real people to talk to when customers need help? Digital innovation is fundamental for modern banking, but does this mean that the financial knowledge and expertise that was built up over centuries has suddenly lost its importance?
Open Banking
Another challenge for traditional banks will be the European PSD2 regulation, which will come into force in 2018. European banks are obliged to provide third parties access to their customers’ accounts which can have far reaching consequences. Additionally, it is a big step forward towards open banking. How does this change the relationship between banks and their clients? And how can banks optimize their expertise and systems within this new context?
Change
Banking is changing rapidly and fundamentally and nobody knows exactly where it will go. Neither do we as ABN AMRO. And we embrace that fact with confidence. It is a work in progress — a movement towards bank of tomorrow and beyond.
Cooperation
One thing we’ve learned so far is that the future of banking will not be a matter for banks alone anymore. Banks seek partnerships with clients, developers, fintechs and even competitors. By actively searching for the clients’ needs and solving problems together, banks can find a new way to the renewed essentials of banking.
Only when new and old combine their skills, innovation will follow. But what does this mean for the working methods of a traditional bank when so many different partners influence the process? How do you keep the customer satisfied, how do you cooperate with a competitor?
From Ace Banker to Homo Ludens
If banking is a process of constant change, then the bank’s employees will have to adapt. Working with alternate teams, horizontally, being flexible — agile. The traditional 'Ace Banker' will make way for a more playful type — one who is flexible, likes to experiment and actively engages with different parties.
Beyond Banking
What will become of these developments? What new ideas on banking will arise from this experiment? ABN AMRO invites you to join this process and start a new way of banking; where bank employees, developers, clients and startups meet; where everybody will be given the bank’s building blocks to create something new. ABN AMRO would very much like to discover what will happen when we all come together and set the first steps Beyond Banking.
We don’t know where and when this process ends, but we know when it begins — on the 9th, 10th and 11th of June ABN AMRO is organizing the Beyond Banking Days.
Not only will there be a plenary programme for inspiration and learning, there will also be deep dives for more knowledge on specific topics and a 48 hour hackathon where new products will be developed. And of course many networking opportunities. Pre-register, join us and be part of the change!
