The global transformation of pretty much any industry you can think of is getting full-scale and is far from its finale. The COVID pandemic has irrevocably shifted the global business paradigm and the banking industry has to keep up with the times, with more and more banks undergoing the digital banking transformation.

Today we’re going to make a brief overview of the main banking technology trends in 2022 and consider their common tendencies to better understand the direction of banking industry development. If you want to learn more about the steps that a traditional institution needs to take to go digital.

Common tendencies in digital banking development

The usage of digital banking services is getting more and more accepted in the US. Recent research shows that 50+ percent of Americans use digital services to access their bank accounts and conduct operations. The benefits of digital banking are too clear and apparent in comparison to traditional banking, ergo customers tend to choose them, ergo more and more banks switch to digital, at least partially.

This mutual influence leads to businesses getting more and more reliant on digital banking, which defines the main digital banking trends. Here are the ideas that form the global digital banking cynosure: 

• Make the provision of digital banking services easier and more convenient
• Enhance the speed of mobile banking operations and payments procedures all over the globe
• Make transactions less resource-demanding
• Raise the acceptance rate for digital banking services globally

Main trends in digital banking

The main feature of most digital banking trends is the drive towards customer convenience, which leads to increased bank effectiveness.

Let’s take a brief look at some of the digital banking latest trends.

AI and machine learning implementation

One of the most valuable resources in digital banking in 2022 is customer information. If marketers know what customers prefer, they can tailor their digital banking services to the needs of their audience more effectively.

The best modern instrument providing such information is AI and machine learning solutions. Bots gather information, and machine learning algorithms analyze it and make efficient predictions upon it.

Radical transparency and open banking

Among all the factors taken into consideration by customers when they decide on which solution to use, trust takes second place, as stated in this research by Raconteur. 

This global request for trust has created the need to change the ways banks use to communicate with their clients, which has, in turn, created the “radical transparency” approach. Its main principles state that the banking environment needs to be as honest to customers as possible, providing all the necessary information without delays and withholding, and ready to accept possible mistakes openly.

Automation of processes

Despite the big progress achieved by introducing new technology in banking, it still involves a ton of manual tasks which steal valuable time from managers on all hierarchy levels. 

Increasing the number of automated tasks would hugely improve the overall enterprise efficiency by saving time, reducing operational costs, and providing the possibility to focus on more important things.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing services are getting increasingly popular in all business spheres, and digital banking is not an exception. Such a  banking technology removes the necessity to install software solutions and keep data warehouses locally and provides fast and reliable access to them via the internet.

This brings increased cost efficiency, productivity, and scalability for businesses anywhere in the world, and we can expect this trend to continue growing for 2022 and beyond. 

Getting rid of downtimes

With the shift to online banking, banks have become especially susceptible to technical issues which lead to downtimes. In order to stand in line with respectable institutions. A bank would need to avoid downtimes by any means: each minute of downtime would cost the bank not only financially. But reputationally as well.

This is why it is common for modern banking institutions to invest large amounts of resources to assure the solidity of their services.

Security comes first

Cybersecurity is a top concern for any banking institution that goes digital. With the transformation of traditional banking processes also come new dangers in the form of hacking and cyber-theft.

Recent research by CSI web has established that about 60 percent of customers would halt using services of a particular bank in case the privacy of their account, data, or operations is compromised. Therefore, banks need to invest heavily in reliable security systems, otherwise, they risk losing a major share of their clients. 

Increase in speed of operations

If all basic banking systems work perfectly, the speed of operations becomes the deciding factor in the bank race. The less time it takes for a customer request to travel through the banking system and bring the expected result. The more customers this bank will attract.

In the era of online banking, the issue of speed turns into the issue of cross-functional collaboration. The bank needs to establish a smooth and stitchless intercommunication between various digital solutions. Incorporated in its activity to ensure the top possible speed of operations. 

Intuitivity and usability

Nowadays online banking is getting accepted more and more by all population groups, regardless of their age and local traditions. Therefore, one of the main goals for digital banking institutions is to provide user-friendly interfaces and intuitively understandable functions. 

Really, it doesn’t matter how fast and efficient your software is. If your customers experience hardships trying to navigate through it. In order to enhance this part of digital banking, enterprises introduce more visual information, such as infographics and interactive elements.

Some final thoughts on the matter

It’s not likely that the nearest future digital banking trends will change in a major way; more like that some of them will grow in importance, and some will dwindle a bit. We might rather safely assume that AI and machine learning-related aspects of digital banking. Will keep being extremely important, as will cybersecurity.

All other shifts in trends beyond 2022 will depend a lot on the changes in technological progress. Regardless of what exactly the future will bring to the world of digital banking. It is important to stay in tune and to be ready when it does.