Numerated Blog

The Future Of Business Banking Is ‘Digital + People’

Written by Sal Trifilio | July 11, 2019

Relationship banks are drowning under a flood of digital disruption and new competition.

According to a recent report by Accenture—which we break down for you here—a full 33 percent of all revenue growth in the European banking sector has gone to firms that did not exist prior to 2005.
Worse, in the UK, 10 percent of total revenue has gone to new entrants, with a shocking 60 percent of revenue growth going their way as well.

While the United States isn’t seeing these numbers, yet, the market is certainly poised for disruption with mergers and acquisitions on the rise and branch closures reaching an all-time high in 2018. Indeed, even Accenture has gone on record saying they believe the banking industry is about to go from vulnerable to volatile.

If banks are to stay afloat in this new digital era where they have to compete with alt lenders, megabanks, and digital-first challenger banks, they’ll need to find a way to meet customers’ expectations.

And this “Future of Banking” was precisely the topic of discussion between Numerated’s Dan O’Malley, People’s United Bank’s Ravi Vakacherla, and Barlow Research Associate’s Sandy Hanson, at this year’s Barlow Business Banking Conference.

Barlow chose this panel for their fireside chat because of People’s United Bank’s digital transformation strategy, which involves both people and fintech. By partnering with Numerated, People’s United Bank is able to enhance digital capabilities and empower bankers with new digital tools, rather than replace employees with them.

This idea dominated Ravi and Dan’s talk, as they explained that the future of business banking is this: a mix of digital + people. Only by combining the two, can relationship banks survive the rising tide of megabanks, alt lenders, and digital-first challenger banks that threaten their bottom lines.

As we mentioned in a previous recap of this talk:

A digital + people strategy allows People’s United Bank to meet their customers where they are — either online or in a branch — and through the medium they prefer. But their customers are still getting the same level of quality service, from the same bankers they’ve grown to know and trust.

To learn more about how Numerated is helping a bank like People’s United Bank grow in 2019, watch our takeaways video with Ravi and Dan above.