Retail banks’ top proposition for innovation is building a new digital bank says new report released by Temenos

According to an in-depth survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of Temenos, banks are preparing for the evolution of intelligent digital banking with 41% seeking to act as a true digital ecosystem. A further 28% offering expect to offer their own and third-party banking and non-banking products and services. Banks’ innovation strategies are also becoming bolder, with 36% looking to build a greenfield digital bank.

The report explores one central theme: A whole new world: How technology is driving the evolution of intelligent banking. The report is the sixth in a series conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and offers a global investigation into the strategic concerns of retail banking executives worldwide. It highlights that banks are preparing for open banking, adopting new technologies like AI and cloud-based services, and looking to become digital banks.

According to Nordea’s Chief Commercial and Digital Officer, Petri Nikkilä quoted in the report, “More than 40% of our advice interactions are now remote for consumers. In some markets, more than 50% of mortgage conversations are held online.”

The report highlights that banks focus their digital investments on cybersecurity (39%), cloud technologies (35%) and developing AI-powered digital advisers and voice-assisted engagement channels (29%). Such will be the demand for behavioral data analysis, that three in five respondents (60%) foresee banks deploying more computing power in the public cloud by 2025 than they currently deploy in all the private cloud data centers.

Max Chuard, Chief Executive Officer at Temenos, says: “Five years from now, when describing intelligent banking, it will be a bank that is using cloud, AI and other emerging technologies, and will be capable of offering a whole range of innovative services to their customers. Forward-thinking banks are embracing open banking and open APIs to become aggregators or develop digital ecosystems. Others are building new digital banks from scratch and are migrating their existing customers to the new digital stacks. With our digital banking platform, which combines rich packaged functionality and cloud revolutionary technology, we help banks modernize their systems end- to- end and accelerate the speed of business innovation. We have a vast experience supporting banks with their digital transformation journeys, whether it’s building a new bank such as Bank Leumi with its digital only Pepper, or launching new banks such as Volt Bank and Varo Money.”

Pete Swabey, EMEA Editorial Director at The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU), adds: “The banks realize that if they are to remain relevant to their customers’ lifestyles and changing needs, they have to provide them with a safe digital ecosystem that protects their private data.”