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There was a time when banking involved a manager on one side of a desk and a client on the other. Banks opened late and closed early and, if you were a small or medium business, you had to tailor your hours to suit theirs.
The prototype for the manager was Captain Mainwaring in the BBC’s old Dad’s Army series: helpful, up to a point, and officious way beyond it. He (and it was always a he) guarded the bank’s money as if it were his own and treated the business person seeking a loan with the suspicion, he would have accorded any random stranger looking for a handout.
All that has changed. Today there is no Mainwaring, probably no desk and quite possibly no building. Banks are no longer confined by bricks and mortar.
In today’s digital banking environment, most of us are also able to deposit checks, transfer funds and apply for loans, all from our mobile devices.
Today’s bank customers don’t want an impressive building. They want 24/7 access and easy-to-use, glitch-free, apps.
This poses big challenges, especially for the banking giants, many of whom still operate with a bricks-and-mortar mindset.
It also poses challenges for some of their customers. I am amazed at the number of business people who profess ignorance of all things digital. They not only admit to it, they almost boast of it. “I leave that to the accountants,” they say. Or: “My PA handles that sort of thing.”
They would not treat any other aspect of their work in that way and they should not ignore the revolution that has taken place in banking. Even if you don’t literally do the banking, you need to understand it.
A conference taking place in Nicosia at the end of this month will be a help. The Digital Banking and Payments Conference is in the Filoxenia Centre on January 31. It will focus on the requirements of regulatory compliance, the development of new payment systems and open platforms which simplify cross-industry and cross-border transactions.
The day will be split into three sessions. The first will address compliance with regulatory guidelines, strategic designs and high-tech growth factors. The second session will take a look at the emerging Fintech Ecosystem and how banks respond to opportunities for digital transformation. The final session will be on changing customer culture and behaviour towards banks.
The digital banking age also poses challenges to financial consultants such as my own company, the Woodbrook Group, they are now competing with online financial managers and financial budgeting apps.
I am convinced, however, that when it comes to advice the personal touch is still essential. No two people have the same circumstances or the same requirements and no app has yet been invented that can match the resources of an individual to their expectations – because people don’t explain their expectations to an app.
Our skilled and experienced financial consultants can help you to identify your personal needs and devise solutions and services that are customised to your unique situation, objectives and goals.
We can’t do the digital banking for you but we can help make sure that you will always have something worth banking.
