2022 trends reflect a new era for banking

Financial institutions can no longer plan for the future by looking at the past. As they evaluate the outlook for 2022 and beyond, two of the most important trends on their radar should be the ability to innovate quickly and at scale, and to humanize digital experiences.

For most of the past two decades before the pandemic, the banking industry assumed a mostly passive mode with respect to change and innovation. Even though the marketplace was changing rather quickly, a great deal of the focus at banks and credit unions was around managing expenses, securing systems, responding to new regulations, and finding new sources of fee revenue.

While digital transformation was an area of emphasis, changes to systems, processes, products, and experiences were mostly modest, representing iterations to what was already familiar. The result was an industry lacking any true differentiation.

The pandemic forced financial institutions to become proactive, and to question existing business models. At the same time, fintech firms emerged that challenged the status quo in banking. Almost immediately, it became apparent that most organizations were not prepared to take advantage of the opportunities of a changing digital marketplace. In 2022, the trends across the industry reflect a new era for banking.

 

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