FF Virtual Arena: How Can Banks Spend Their Budget Wisely Amid Economic Uncertainty In 2023 And Beyond?

For this special Virtual Arena, we welcome two experts in digital finance and banking, Peter-Jan Van De Venn, the VP of Global Digital Banking at Mobiquity, and Brett King, celebrated author and self-proclaimed futurist, to discuss the future of digital banking, what fintechs and legacy institutions should be focusing on and how banks can spend their budget wisely amid economic uncertainty. 

“We have seen obvious pressure in 2022 on fintechs, “ says King. “The message to banks and incumbents is clear; you can’t take the foot off the gas pedal yet. A lot of the benefits that we’ve seen with successful fintechs like Wise, Nubank, WeBank, in terms of their utilisation of cash, have set a benchmark and changed the way analysts talk about the sector.” 

The growing issues of climate change and employment will no doubt go hand-in-hand with future innovations in digital transformation and AI. The financial services sector is now taking on a whole new group of challenges and startups and incumbents alike must be adaptive and agile enough in their operations to keep up with new changes. 

“Many banks still feel that they are very special and that their requirements are extremely different to other banks. Looking at the research that we have done, amongst 80+ digital banks in the world, it shows that about 80% of the functionality that is brought to customers is common,” said Van De Venn.  

We are currently in an era of homogenisation, where banks offer almost all the same products. When thinking about the use of a banks budget, one of the biggest goals in 2023 is to develop out-of-the-box differentiators so that industry leaders can really stand out.