CRITICAL SKILLS FOR FUTURE BANKING - PART ONE

By Kelvin Mkwawa, Seasoned Banker.

The banking industry is transitioning from an era of analog banking to the age of digital. That transition is most evident in retail banking, where online platforms such as mobile banking, internet banking, and agency banking are automating many back-office functions, along with critical customer interactions and banking services. 

According to an Accenture survey done in North America Continent in 2018, nearly all (91%) of banking leaders surveyed agree that new technologies are dramatically changing the way banks engage with customers. 86% of the surveyed bankers stated that mobile, digital payments, and online are the top overall technology investment priorities for banks. 

The main reason the surveyed bankers felt that way is because, banks will face competition not just from the thousands of financial technology companies (Fintechs) with niche products, but also from large gig-economy companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, and others.

With the digital transformation well underway, there is a need to rethink about talents of bankers. The traditional career path of a banker being hired and automatically moving up the ladder due to mutual loyalty between a bank and the banker no longer exists. There is high pressure from today’s bankers to constantly upskill and learn quickly as the banking industry is being disrupted every day due to the confluence of technology and competition. 

Therefore, bankers are not only expected to possesses technical skills but increasingly they are required to have the technology and customer-focused skills as well. Nonetheless, I believe that some roles, such as relationship managers, will remain a critical part of a bank’s value proposition. Even though most of the operations are becoming more automated, there will still be a need for smart, skilled personnel who can interact directly with customers and guide them through complex transactions and decision-making processes.

As technology continues to revolutionize the banking workforce – eliminating, changing, and creating roles across the business − banks must evolve as rapidly as technology itself. Hence banks are redefining some jobs roles and restructuring to stay in touch with constant change surrounding the banking industry. 

According to the Accenture survey, millennials will make up to 72% of the global workforce by 2025. If banks are to prosper, they must have a workforce that will cater to millennials’ needs as they will be the main customers of the banking industry. With that being said, banks will need to answer a key question; what will our future workforce look like? I will try to answer that question in this article by sharing some of the skills of the future workforce of the banking industry.

• Advanced and Relevant Communication Skills – Banking has always been a relationship-driven business hence advanced communication skills will still be very important in future banking. And this will not change despite the disruption of advanced technology models. Branch banking will evolve which will result into the decline of branch locations, with increasing adoption of mobile banking. With this in mind, one might argue that there is no need to have communication skills as customer preference has shifted to self-service models. In addition, a study by Accenture found out that 66% of customers execute half of their banking transactions online and 71% are open to self-service (automated) transactions. Despite all this, I firmly believe that being able to engage effectively with customers is still key. Being in the industry of trust, it is very important for banks to find a way to become more transparent to customers through effective communication. Furthermore, banks that will be able to focus on each customer’s unique needs will be better suited to meet the increasing demand for personalized and custom experiences. This will only be achieved through effective communication across all banking channels. Banks need to have staff with advanced and relevant communication skills to be able to manage communications and make it feel personalized to customers by choosing the right channels to communicate and having content that is relevant and easy to understand. 

Next week, I will share more skills I believe are critical for future banking.

Written by Kelvin Mkwawa, MBA
Seasoned Banker
Email address: Kelvin.e.mkwawa@gmail.com