By Nathan Snell, Chief Innovation Officer, nCino 

This July the internet and retail giant Amazon celebrated its 25^th birthday. Following Apple, it’s only the second US company to reach a market capitalisation of $1 trillion. Originally a small marketplace for books, it’s now a behemoth that has completely transformed the way we shop. It also offers important lessons for other companies about how to leverage innovation, respond to consumer needs and build a thriving business.

While Amazon’s plans to enter the banking industry remain somewhat vague, banks should keep the tech giant in their sight—especially in light of a report conducted by Accenture, which revealed that nearly a third of global respondents would switch from their traditional bank to a service offered by Amazon, or a similar company. Considering these implications, it’s time for banks to take stock of Amazon’s meteoric rise as a technology leader and learn from their success when navigating the digital age.

A maniacal focus on the customer

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, famously said, “The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer. Our goal is to be earth’s most customer-centric company.”

Amazon was built on the belief that understanding the customer and answering their needs must always come first. With an increase in digital banking and high street banks closing (nearly 6,000 local branches have shut since 2010), the physical relationships between traditional banks and their customer is weakening. As customer expectations change, banks need to take a step back, listen to what…