Everything that can be automated will be automated

An interesting article by Bloomberg, “Human bankers are losing to robots as Nordea sets a new standard”, outlines the strategy of Nordea, the Scandinavian bank that has drastically cut its workforce and invested heavily in automation, thereby increasing its profits by up to 31%. In contrast, most of its competitors in northern Europe have actually increased staffing by hiring people with a tech profile, and have seen their costs rise.

Nordea’s CEO says automation is the only way to remain competitive, calculating that its workforce will have been reduced by half within a decade: most activities, from asset management to customer service, will be fully automated.

Nordea, which operates in 19 countries, particularly Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is being closely watched by its competitors. The title of this entry comes from the CEO of SEB Group, Johan Torgeby, who says automation will “impact the behavior of customers and alter banks’ business models.”

The speed with which a bank can automate obviously depends on how many of its customers prefer dealing with a person. It seems that younger people are happy using apps and machines, particularly as technology makes these systems increasingly powerful and able to carry out progressively more sophisticated tasks.