Leading with purpose, impact and enablement in banking and insurance in the world of AI-curated trends

In today’s world of AI-curated news and information, where algorithms mediate our search results and provide us with canonical answers, it becomes increasingly important to apply the human lens. We need to distinguish between passing fads and reliable predictions that have real social and commercial impact. This was the focus of my keynote speech at the prestigious FinTech and InsurTech Congress, where I discussed the growth trends in banking through social impact, environmental sustainability and conscious intelligence.

The banking landscape?has undergone?significant?changes in recent years, with the pandemic accelerating the pace of transformation.?Mobile banking has become standard and mobile-first neo bank entrants have introduced new features (most of which we’re not even aware of!) that have been adopted by the industry as a whole. We can now trade cryptocurrencies, make payments with ease and enjoy improved user experiences all in our banking apps. This evolution has been labelled as?Banking 3.0: Banking Transformation.

But what lies ahead?

As someone who has had the privilege of working with and advising top financial institutions and insurers, I can confidently say that the future is less about digital products and more about adopting a?design ethos focused on purpose, impact, and enablement.?Seamless embedment?and integration with other industries are crucial for facilitating transformation. This new phase of innovation is driven by purpose and I call it not yet Banking 4.0, but?Banking 3.5 — Banking Everywhere with Impact.

I see four emerging themes?that will shape Banking 3.5:

1. Immersive Insights-led Experiences: Leveraging customer data?Immersive Insights-led Experiences: Leveraging customer data knowledge to deliver joyful experiences and personalized services.
2. Omni-Ecosystem Collaboration: Co-designing products with sustainable value creation through partnerships across various sectors.
3. Social and Environmental Impact: Placing employees at the center, building green, reducing waste, and avoiding suppliers with questionable practices.
4. Democratization and Enablement: Moving away from a stand-alone industry model to a decentralized and inclusive approach, empowering customers to achieve their life ambitions.

To embrace these themes, a shift from tactical thinking about technology to strategic investments in customer experience (CX), employee experience (EX), and impact experience (IX) is essential for growth.

The banking industry landscape is evolving?— fast.

The traditional linear approach of people, process, and technology has been disrupted. We now have two distinct groups of employees: the more traditional Gen-X+ and the ‘Side-Hustle’ generation?comprising Millennials, Gen-Z, and soon Gen Alphas.

Customer values and expectations have also shifted towards greater consciousness of value and impact.

Human intelligence and artificial intelligence coexist, with generative AI capable of disrupting job markets. Furthermore, the global community has become more mindful of the impact of actions on the environment, social equality, equity and inclusion. It is within this context that we must consider the role of mindful technology and data ethics.

Delving into the?Banking 3.5?transition towards?Banking Everywhere with Impact?the following scorecard illustrates the transformation from pre-2020 to the present and the next five years.

The scorecard highlights the trending opportunities that are no longer driven solely by technology searching for a need but by the beneficiaries of innovation in search of value and impact.

The opportunities I identified are as follows:

1. Changing Workplace: From “WFH Fridays” to hybrid flexibility, tech enablement, and giving employees a voice in customer experience (CX) design.
2. Duty of Care to Customer: Shifting from compliance checks to proactive intelligence-led conversations grounded in empathy, enablement, and inclusion.
3. End-to-End Service Design: Transitioning from a misunderstood concept to a single service view of the customer, with a focus on customer journeys and seamless experiences.
4. Omni-Ecosystem Innovation: Evolving from non-existence to step-change innovation through collaboration across industries.

In Banking 3.5, technology does not drive trends; rather, it augments and supports the purpose-driven journeys of humanity. Banking exists to serve customers, not the other way around.

We should approach future innovations with the lens of?design ethos?and an understanding of?evolving themes.

When evaluating the desirability, viability and feasibility of solutions, it is crucial to?ask ourselves who we are doing it for and why.

Purpose, impact, and enablement should guide our decisions and actions?as we navigate the ever-changing landscape of banking and insurance.

I invite you to join me on this journey towards leading with joy, purpose and conscious hybrid intelligence in the world of AI-curated trends. Let us shape the future of banking and insurance for the betterment of society and the planet.

You can view a summary of the talk below.