It may seem odd for the man that has pioneered a non-bank community-based payment model to admit, but I strongly believe that banks will always be important and we will not be saying goodbye to them any time soon. There are certain services which simply cannot be offered by anyone other than a traditional bank – namely deposits and clearing – and I do not see that changing in the next few decades, at least.

Banks do have their place in our financial landscape, although the area they occupy is undoubtedly becoming smaller with the explosion in growth of FinTech businesses.  And that is certainly the theme of a new white paper published by our technology partner, Oracle.

The report, titled “Banking is changing … with or without the banks,” surveyed more than 100 executives at major retail banking institutions globally last September. And the key message seems to be that investing in digital strategies is vital for survival with a resounding 94% of respondents saying that having a digital omni-channeled presence is important for customer retention. Yet only 61% believe that digitization is a high priority with a third of executives admitting that the future success of their business is “entirely dependent” upon digital customer engagements.

But what I’m most interested in is that bank executives acknowledged that rivals without the same types of legacy tech issues could be the winners. That’s certainly our view, too.

Anders la Cour, CEO, Banking Circle

Read the full Oracle white paper below.