By Reto Sager, Senior Vice President, Global Head of FSI Services, SAP
No matter your industry, innovation is a proven path to differentiation and competitiveness. The flexibility of agile innovation, real-time pivoting to meet market demand, and the ability to scale operations when needed – companies that embody these attributes are handsomely rewarded. However, these principles of the digital economy can be difficult to accept for a banking industry that values stability, consistency, and conservative decision making.
As they face increasing consumer expectations, rising disruption of fintech competitors, and declining margins, many banks are subscribing to a short-term, siloed, risk-averse approach to operations and customer engagement. It’s true that this strategy is working for some banks at the moment – but in reality, they are resisting any opportunity to realize the full potential of digital technology.
Banking’s path to digital transformation: Best practices and the digital core
Does digital transformation require banks to abandon the core values that have long defined the industry? Of course not!
In fact, there are two components – once integrated into the overall strategy – that can help banks realize the advantages of going digital while staying true to their principles:
1. Standards and best practices
The notion of standards and best practices may seem like the antithesis of digital transformation, but it’s actually a complementary approach for the banking industry. By delivering best-practice content and concepts that everyone in the organization can easily consume and apply to their daily work, banks are better equipped to standardize and optimize internal and customer-centric processes. Chunking the long-term digital-transformation strategy into smaller building blocks and milestones can help ensure that a sense of predictability and control is continuously maintained.
2. The digital core
Consolidating data scattered across many disconnected sources provides banking personnel with access to real-time insights needed to make sound operational and financial decisions. At the same time, the overall financial institution can take advantage of consequential benefits including:
• Improved compliance and sustainable cost savings, driving up profit margins
• Effortless user experiences with unprecedented transparency into the organization and customer base
• Lower IT costs attributed to a “connect once, connect to all” approach to collaboration
SAPPHIRE NOW: Everything you need to know about re-imagining your banking operations
Are you ready to embrace digital transformation – without compromising your core values and disrupting operations and the customer experience? Check out these sessions at SAPPHIRE NOW.
Digitize Your Bank Through an Integrated Banking Package
Enable anytime, anywhere interactions and delight your customers. Learn how to provide these experiences today and tomorrow with the model bank approach. Simplify the adoption of digital banking based on the SAP HANA platform through a unique combination of SAP Best Practices packages, methodology, and guided configuration.
Get Your Employees Up and Ready for the Digital Core
Expand the limits of your software training. Leverage the SAP Enterprise Support edition of SAP Learning Hub, and build the knowledge and skills needed to maximize the benefits of SAP Enterprise Support services. Get your key users ready for the SAP S/4HANA suite and the digital economy.
Explore how standards and best practices, combined with a digital core, can help banks digitally transform on their terms. Join us at SAPPHIRE NOW.
