On December 08/09, 2021, Maik Gerken participated in the BankenTech event of the Handelsblatt. Read below about the trends and topics in finance that he took away from these two days and how he rated the event overall.
“The Handelsblatt’s BankenTech event was held under the theme “From bank to tech company – more agility, speed and security?”. The portfolio of topics was broad and the major trends in finance were addressed. The use of cloud technologies, building common platforms and ecosystems, blockchain, the use of AI & data analytics, and the role of IT in sustainability issues were just some of them. From the participants’ point of view, the technologies are all there; the task now is to bring them into the processes for the benefit of the customers.
And it is precisely here that it is important to know or be able to get to know the customer’s needs. The starting position of different market participants is very different. FinTechs don’t carry around the burden of old legacy systems, while traditional commercial banks can draw on years of experience and customer loyalty. Hybrid approaches (digital and/or branch) of established banks contrast with fully digital business models of FinTechs and neobanks. New business models need to be developed that are based on cooperation and bring together banking and non-banking services. Artificial intelligence is no longer an abstract topic, but is finding its place in real terms in various banking processes via an increasing number of use cases, be it in fraud detection, digital household accounting or intelligent handling of defaulting customers, to name just a few use cases. The potential is huge, it’s all about creating value from data! A strong data competence and an integrated data strategy are essential for this.
The requirements for commercial banks to incorporate the issue of sustainability into their risk management is an enormous task To date, there is a lack of data and methods for measuring and evaluating ESG impacts. Traditional methods in integrating this new information into risk models may no longer suffice and providing the appropriate data for this is a very complex challenge that will involve massive IT support.
Then there is the issue of BlockChain and the digital euro. The opportunities presented by a token economy are great and can lead to lower transaction costs with greater reliability. Smart contracts in the BlockChain, for example, map securities that themselves control when interest is to be paid. On the other hand, there is an ongoing discussion about the need for a digital euro. If people no longer use cash, then we need a corresponding payment system based on a digital currency. Current cryptocurrencies are interesting for speculative purposes, but from the ECB’s point of view, they do not meet the requirements of a currency.
Regulation is often welcomed because it creates clarity and trust. It should only remain fair in the sense of equal treatment of market participants and depend primarily on risk.
My conclusion: It was a highly interesting event that made it clear what an epochal transformation process the financial sector is currently undergoing. For us at INIT, this is also a great opportunity to competently support financial institutions in this exciting process.”
Review of the 2021 Banking Summit