https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/01/fintech-banks-face-extinction-phase-amid-new-financial-technology.htmlRapid changes in financial technology, or fintech, are shaking up the global banking industry.
Banks must adopt new technologies to survive an ongoing “extinction phase” wrought by such tech, according to Stephen Bird, Citi’s global consumer banking CEO.
While new technologies cannot be ignored, bankers say the primary aim is to use them to provide the best service to customers.
Hard figures on how much the new wave of technology has disrupted retail banking are hard to come by, but analysts have stressed that the challenge is real.
Do you think the tech here includes blockchain and crypto?
I do think the technology advancement being referred to here also has to do with bitcoin/cryptocurrency and blockchain. The banks are expected at this level to have imbibed some of the blockchain advantages to live up the current pace of technological advancement; having an ease of processes in their service delivery.
There is actually no doubt at all that the banks obviously are already figuring out ways to actually inculcate the blockchain technology one way or the other, so I would say, for what it is worth, we will get to see the banks really make some moves to that area as time goes on. There is a lot of things the blockchain technology is going to be disrupting, and there is a lot of benefits it can bring into the financial sector when it comes to transparency and accountability, so unless a certain country and banks are running from that, which will be too obvious, I believe over time, they won't have a choice than to blend in.
For the banks do not worry. They will exist even if they do nothing in terms of optimizing their work. However, they will only lose part of their profits, but will continue to exist. The banking system is very necessary for the state and it will always protect banks. However, bankers are always looking to increase their profits and will switch to using cryptocurrency if they feel good profits in this area with minimal risk.
Of course, anyone who thinks banks will no longer exist because of blockchain technology or cryptocurrency is not basically in reality yet. We are talking about banks that have been in existence, they have all it takes to quickly figure things out, they have all the facilities in place to easily adapt into the system and there are so many ways they can easily go about this and benefit from it without having to feel threatened at all in the long run which would be more of a symbiotic thing eventually. Something can only go into extinction phase if it no longer has relevance; I do not see banks wanting to be in that position in the long run.