Agility is now a buzzword in banking. Indeed, Accenture’s Banking 2020 report on the future of the sector identifies agility as one of three building blocks traditional banks should pursue in order to build sustainable competitive advantage, the others being optimization and simplification, and continuous innovation.
However, all too often, people equate agility with digital. In other words, they think that by becoming more digital, they become more agile. But the two are not synonymous. Digital banking excellence is only one aspect of true banking agility. Becoming truly agile is about doing “new” and different things—like embracing digital. But it is also about doing the “old” things differently—like streamlining the basics.
For banks leading the way in agility, it is about embedding a new way of working across the business. And the most agile approaches are those that focus on getting the basics right. For example, agile market leaders are:
- Managing an end-to-end payments solution.
- Automating manual controls and processes.
- Developing targeted products based on rich customer insight.
- Simplifying the business by moving away from non-core products.
- Consolidating operating call centers.
- Optimizing the branch network.
- Simplifying rewards programs.
- Enriching customer data while protecting privacy.
- Reducing cost of service without reducing quality of service.
Read more about agility—including the technology drivers behind it—by exploring our Banking 2020 report.
