Why read this report
- Regulation is the priority. About half of survey respondents (51%) say regulation will have the biggest impact on their industry in the years to 2020. That feeling is more acute in Europe, but less so in North America—despite the complexity of new US rules.
- Clients and technology converge. Customers’ expectations are rising, particularly in Europe. Banks are having to adapt to enhance customer engagement. But unlike Google, Amazon or Facebook, which have built global businesses on data-mining their users, banks are using digital channels and technology for different purposes. Digital investment is about attracting new customers (31%), with customer insight far less important (11%). Attrition reduction (not losing customers) is the trailing priority (8%) for technology.
- Operational changes are underway. According to two-thirds of respondents, banks are implementing signifi cant operational changes solely in response to new regulation. Contrary to many perceptions, the need to change is being felt more heavily by bigger banks (those with revenue over US$500m, 70%) than by their smaller competitors (those with revenue under US$500m, 63%). C-suite executives seem less aware of the need for change than their non-C-suite employees (C-suite, 62%; non-C-suite,70%).
- A new plan is needed for branch networks. Management priorities are changing. Improving customer segmentation and considering its impact on product design and distribution are cited as most important by 41% of respondents. Banks need to rethink what all those expensive branch networks are for, even though 38% say they have increased the size of their networks of late. Just 18% of respondents think that simplifying their businesses might help in the years ahead.
- Retail revenue remains squeezed. Retail and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) banking, the bread-and-butter activities that regulators and politicians want to protect, will still be the biggest source of revenue in 2020, but on a reduced scale, falling to 45% as primary source from 61% today. Regulators may think that new rules will lead to smaller corporate and institutional banking units; however, about one-third (32%) of retail bankers expect it to be their primary source of revenue by 2020, up from 23% today. Wealth and asset management shows promise as well, with 17% of respondents citing this as the future primary revenue source (from currently 14%).
- Unexpected competition? Regulators and governments are keen to foster competition. Yet rare is the banking start-up that has taken on and beaten the incumbents. Competition is more likely to come from non-fi nancials (46%), such as retailers and telecommunications companies, than from shiny new banks (28%). And despite their disruptive potential, “payment players”, such as PayPal, are seen as a lesser source of future competitive pressure (22%).
- Banking is not charity. Almost half (45%) of respondents say their return on equity (RoE) has not recovered to pre-fi nancial crisis levels; only 21% say it is higher. Around 4% of respondents say their current RoE is zero or below, with a similar number reporting RoE above 20%. The top way to improve returns is to improve customer service to boost revenue or to cut costs, selected by 70% and 69% of respondents respectively. All that operational change should be worth it, however. Most respondents expect their RoE to rise.
