* By Odilon Costa
Considering the impasses of the country's economy in the most recent cycle, there was an increase in expenses with technology, which rose from R$ 13.2 billion to R$ 13.9 billion. Investments, in turn, remained at the same level, going from R$ 5.8 billion to R$ 5.7 billion - a reflection of the efforts of banks to continue to follow the evolution of technology, in an efficient manner, to offer tip to the user.
The financial services sector, in Brazil and worldwide, is currently going through an inflection point. In order to deal with the evolution of a segment that is undergoing profound technological, regulatory and market changes, banks are faced with the need to drive strategic changes in their business and operational models.
The study “Global Banking and Capital Markets Outlook 2019”, conducted worldwide by Deloitte, points out the most critical points to be observed by financial institutions that want to take the time to put these necessary transformations into practice. Some pillars of the transformation to be addressed by the financial services sector include:
1. Exponential technologies
The potential of emerging technologies is increasing every day. Artificial intelligence and cloud computing are already significantly transforming many aspects of the banking system. Although initial enthusiasm for blockchain has cooled, the industry continues to navigate towards practical applications of this technology.
2. Financial ecosystem
With the increasing convergence of the financial services industry, relations between banks, fintechs and big techs are evolving rapidly. Promoting a true context of collaboration is still a challenge for financial institutions.
3. Digital transformation
As the world becomes more volatile, the change to be driven by financial institutions must be precise and reach the center of their strategy, so it can actually translate into a new operating model. This transformation must begin fundamentally with banks reaffirming their role in the global financial system. Institutions must increase trust and efficiency in their processes, so that technology is applied to support a clear business purpose and vision.
4. Technological synergy
The success of banks in their digital transformation will depend mainly on how their technology and operations strategy will be able to operate systems, platforms, software, tools and infrastructure together. Data management, infrastructure centralization and artificial intelligence are the basis of this integrated approach, applied in a way that creates maximum value for institutions.
5. Talents for the future of banks
Any change in people management that aims only at eliminating routine tasks and cost management will be limiting. In this sense, the keywords for today's and tomorrow's talents are relevance, creativity and problem solving. Skills for designing a better customer experience or managing change may, in the future, become as or more important than industry knowledge.
6. Risks of a new era
With the evolution of technology, new risks related to the application of algorithms and artificial intelligence challenge banks to rethink the ethical and compliance aspects hitherto clearly established. In an economy and business model established on the basis of data, privacy and security are at the heart of new regulations - such as the Brazilian General Data Protection Law and equivalent international legislation. Thus, the next generation of cyber risk management must consider an approach that strengthens controls in the technological infrastructure, uses analytics and big data in a safe and responsible manner and builds a resilient infrastructure to resist systemic interruptions and long periods of stress.
7. Digital services
Self-service platforms, virtual meetings with the manager and extended hours for remote services are some of the possibilities that are already being considered by financial institutions. Banks are reimagining their spaces and channels to offer new and disruptive digital services.
* Odilon Costa is CEO of Tree Solution
Warning: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
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