Speaking in Amsterdam, my thoughts spanning Calibre to Calibra...

It was an absolute pleasure to speak at Future Branches Europe in Amsterdam earlier this week. I had the most amazing time sharing thoughts and ideas with global peers on what might be the role and value of banks and branches in the digital infused era. As always, here below are my key thoughts from several insightful conversations.

Do banks need to think more creatively?

Having contributed at several conferences over the years, I find that whether the topic is risk, robotics, regulation or retail branches, technology is the common denominator. And when it comes to technology, the problem is not one of scarcity but one of abundance. Enamoured with what is on offer, organisations need to get creative when it comes to selecting what's right for them and disciplined when integrating it with all else that they stand for.

When science throws at you infinite opportunities, the calibre of selection is the key differentiator. Almost as if choosing from a palette of colours (AI, Blockchain, Cloud..), firms need to think like artists ....

What’s the problem?

Often I hear of organisations adopting technology not because it will help them but for reasons such as 'it’s on trend' or 'our boss wanted it'. My view is that organisations would be better able to gain value from their technology spend if they spent a touch more time to zero in on the problem that are trying to solve. Metrics such as 'percentage automation' and 'number of robots deployed' are output based. They may well be correlated to good outcomes, yet I think it's a good idea to spend some time to validate the null hypothesis before throwing resource at chasing an arbitrary number. When deploying technology, here are some tangible questions to be asking. Will the deployment of technology solve a genuine problem or take us to a desired state of transformation? If yes, what is the best possible technology?

Drawing an analogy from daily life, I would compare this to eating food just because everyone is eating. The question to ask is, are you hungry and is this what you want to eat? 

What is the right Brand/Branch Mix: When thinking about the role of a branch in the future, organisations are looking at various propositions. From having no physical branches, to combining digital and physical presence (digical), sharing space with the like of local supermarkets and letting agencies to having flagship stores like Apple, the problem as I said is one of choice. In my view, this is not a case of either or but one of finding the ideal mix and then being open to evolution. To offer some ideas for banks, I'll take a cue from my time in the Hospitality Industry when I worked with The Oberoi Hotels in India. It's believed that when launching The Oberoi Rajvilas, some asked if the mesmerising 32 acre hotel just outside of Jaipur would make any money, to which the founder, Raibahadur M. S. Oberoi answered that some properties were meant to make money while others were simply meant to display what you stand for.

Just as hotels have brands (Hilton has Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Garden Inn, etc) financial firms might do well to consider brands that are decoupled from bands driven by parameters such as Asset Under Management, product type, etc.

What Else do Banks Want to be Doing? I was reading about Facebook's Crypto Announcement and wondered if I might be paying for a future flight in Libra using their Calibra Wallet. The point here is that if other sectors are keen on adding banking propositions to their suite of offerings, then perhaps traditional banks might like to add other offerings to their suite too? Once again, this mindset begs creativity and dreams.

If financial firms can find a why that is strong enough, then the only question might be why not? 

The Customer is King: Finally, the person that matters most to me - the customer. Often keen to deflect customers online, some business find it frustrating that customers love to interact and make repeated visits to the branch. To that I would quote Gandhi.

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so."

So I'll pen off with Jeffery Archers words, let’s be careful what we wish for. 

I hope you enjoyed this article. I'll be keen to have your thoughts and comments.

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