The unstoppable growth of digital banking: 3 billion users by 2021
Digital banking, and its unstoppable growth, is a fact. According to a report by Juniper Research, by 2021, one out of every two adults in the world will user a smartphone, tablet, PC or smartwatch to access financial services. This forecast entails a 53% increase from to this year’s figures.
In this context, the banking sector has embarked in the complete overhaul of its traditional foundations, according to a number of reports, including Juniper Research’s ‘Retail Banking: Digital Transformation & Disruptor Opportunities 2017-2021‘, which argues that the use of digital banking will continue growing as consumers start flocking at increasingly higher rates towards banks capable of offering faster and omni-channel digital services.
The document highlights how, up until now, traditional banks have lagged one step behind innovation. Just as the ‘ituser‘ – a website specializing in technology and business - points out, the up and coming fintech players and their relative competitive advantage have changed the game rules completely.
“Technology is currently the greatest differentiator for all types of banks. Investments in banking technologies soared to record levels in 2016 and traditional banks are now gearing up to start focusing on digital transformation initiatives,” said Nitin Bhas, author of the report.
BBVA, among the twelve global leaders in digital transformation
The report includes a list of twelve banks across the world that are tackling their digital innovation and transformation processes better. The list includes BBVA, along other top names such as Bank of America, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase, and RBS.
All these companies earned high scores thanks to their ongoing efforts to quickly and relentlessly move towards the final stages of digital transformation. This status shows both in the funds they have poured into technology, the level of savings they achieve through digitization and the size of their digital portfolios.
The blockchain, one of the drivers of this change
In this whole change process, the ‘blockchain‘ has the potential to significantly change the way the financial sector works, says Álvaro Martín, of BBVA Research. According to Martín, authorities should start regulating this technology, which is still in its early stages, and tackling the issues that raises.
BBVA is still working to offer the best service to its customers
The new breakthroughs in the banking sector are vital in the race to achieve digital transformation. Adding new functionalities that help make customer lives’ easier is a challenge that BBVA is taking on with the latest release of its BBVA Wallet application in Spain. The update includes two new functionalities that will allow customers to review the contract they are signing when applying for a new bank card, and configure the data that will be displayed on the screen.