More than half of the world population will have access to digital banking services by the year 2026, according to a new study by Juniper Research. The new research projected the present 2.5 billion users to rise to 4.2 billion users in 2026, in a discovery that has the tendency to beam a spotlight on seamless banking services.
The COVID-19 pandemic had restricted a lot of social services, close of clubs, restaurants, gyms, with citizens of the world isolated and confined in their various homes, giving rise to the demand for seamless and easy to go banking operation in the comfort of one’s environment.
The research discovered that increased digital transformation moves enabled banks to effectively function during the Coronavirus pandemic, an effort that justified digital banking use, with its ensuing benefits.
The new research dubbed: Digital Banking: Banking-as-a-Service, Market Transformation & Forecasts 2021 2026, predicted that China will be the largest digital banking market over the next five years, projected to take almost 25 percent of digital banking users in 2026.
The research further advised banks that in order to better compete in a niche of diverse competition; they should integrate their many offerings into a single, consistent digital experience.
Juniper Research’s Digital Transformation in Banking Readiness Index took a cursory look at 30 leading Tier 1 banks, to access how innovative they are in their digital features and investments and their strength in terms of size, brand strength and profitability, with a view to ascertain their readiness in digital transformation and also highlight their respective positioning.
The identified digital transformation leading groups of banks are: Bank of America, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, BBVA, and DBS Bank.
Bank of America for example gives the leverage of a ever-expanding digital platform, including the Erica chatbot, and has significantly recorded a high rise in digital usage and engagement during the pandemic.
HSBC on its own started innovative new solutions, like HSBC Kinetic for small businesses in the UK, with BBVA launching initiatives including cryptocurrency trading and DBS Bank having high levels of digital engagement.
JPMorgan Chase on the other hand has experimented with blockchain and made subsequent acquisitions, such as that of wealth manager Nutmeg in the UK to promote its banking services.
Research co-author Damla Sat, on the leading banks had this to say:
“These banks have progressed with well-planned and executed digital transformation strategies, and other banks need to build similarly broad and revolutionary roadmaps, or they will be left behind by more agile competitors.
