Published by linker 5
Posted on July 28, 2020
By Mike Smith, Managing Director (Direct), Virgin Media Business
COVID-19 has forced banks into a rapid – and unexpected – revolution.
From the sudden need to support remote working for the entire workforce, through to dealing with customer demand on online channels, the pandemic has thrown up previously unthinkable tests for financial service firms.
Most have responded well. Nearly three quarters of finance leaders feel their business was fairly well prepared for the crisis (Deloitte), highlighting technology as the key force in helping them to stabilise. Now comes the rebound – the pressing need for banks to get out of survival mode and focus on growth as lockdown loosens and opportunities emerge.
Transforming the playing field – permanently
Over eight in ten UK workers want to continue working remotely even after lockdown restrictions have eased. Online services have boomed by a staggering 129% and more than four in ten intend to shop online even more frequently as lockdown loosens.
The evidence couldn’t be clearer. COVID-19 has changed the playing field for businesses, including financial services, forever. When you look at the technologies that have driven the transformation; video conferencing tools encouraging employee collaboration, cloud technologies powering remote contact centres and helping banks deal with the surge in online demand, it’s clear invisible infrastructure has been the true force powering these interactions.
As The Economist Intelligence Unit has found, the success of tech foundations since the pandemic struck has also inspired banking leaders to take a more enthusiastic view on innovation generally. The research shows nearly eight in ten banking leaders are taking a more optimistic approach to emerging technologies such as AI, which they now believe will be game-changing for the sector in the years to come.
Thinking ambitiously about emerging technology can open up exciting possibilities for banks – whether that’s the customer journey becoming increasingly voice-enabled, or chatbots speeding up services and ensuring people get served seamlessly and successfully. This openness and optimism will be crucial to making the rebound a success and gaining an edge over competitors, as long as they’re supported by continually advancing digital infrastructure.
Looking to the future, we know banks will need to continue to digitally transform, striving to ensure invisible infrastructure can support their employees, customer operations and, most excitingly, emerging technologies.
But how can they do it?
Making the right choices
McKinsey has found that modernising tech capabilities selectively is a crucial task for businesses in responding to the fast-changing environment. But this throws up some tricky questions.
How can banking leaders be “selective” when they’re confronted with such a confusing and vast array of technologies? How can they embrace them without causing even more disruption, or exposing their organisation to the risk of devastating cyber-attacks?
Mike Smith
Choosing the right invisible infrastructure solutions is about remembering that digitisation is about more than just technology. As the Harvard Business Review has described, having the wrong attitude – for example, thinking about digital change as being just about “disruption”- can result in poor investment decisions.
What banking leaders should focus on instead is foundational upgrades, whether that’s cloud technology, or networks, providing them with clear boosts to speed and efficiency, but without involving ripping legacy infrastructure out completely and starting all over again.
And if banks have a strong strategic partner; a technology supplier that will advise them on digital change over the long term, they can benefit from strategic advice on where exactly these incremental changes should occur across their tech stacks. Crucially, they can also provide counsel on countering another threat on top of COVID-19 – the risk of cyber-attacks.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, banks have experienced a 238% surge in cyber-attacks. These could have crippling effects on an organisation’s rebound efforts, crushing a bank’s capacity to serve customers, interfering with vital systems and damaging their reputation permanently.
That’s why banks need to look carefully at a solution’s security features and interrogate them. Does it come with end-to-end security? How robust are user authentication measures? Have the tech providers thought about the changing digital landscape and adapted their security approaches in the right way?
Asking these questions is so important because when resilience is embedded at the heart of an organisation’s infrastructure, banking leaders won’t just have peace of mind. They’ll also benefit from the confidence to focus on customer acquisition and direct their energies towards making their rebound a resounding success.
A unique opportunity
Recover, rebound and race ahead. This is now the task for banks across the UK as they elevate their thinking beyond survival and towards growth and prosperity.
The last few months have underlined the importance of invisible infrastructure – especially the cloud technology and networks powering virtual interactions and empowering employees to collaborate, keeping businesses going. As we’ve seen, financial service firms will need to continue investing in these foundations to ensure they’re equipped with the scalability and resilience to drive rapid growth and prosper.
As the World Economic Forum has pointed out, “while the current environment is undoubtedly challenging”, banks have a “unique opportunity to succeed in the long term”. Banking leaders can grasp this by ensuring their rebound plan is powered by digital infrastructure.
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