Digital transformation has become a survival strategy for banks today. UK Finance’s The Way We Bank Now report reveals 5.5 billion log-ins to banking apps last year, a 13% rise on the previous year.[1]

With more reliance on digital services from customers and the Open Banking Initiative opening the door for more competition, banks are increasingly collaborating with digital experts to enhance their digital capabilities.

Farida Gibbs, CEO & Founder of Gibbs Hybrid comments: “Customers are adopting mobile and digital banking at a pace we've never seen before. This emphasises how digital technology is essential for the customer experience. They are paving the way and changing the face of the industry from what we once knew. 

“As regulators have opened the doors for more competition through the Open Banking initiative, how banks approach digital needs to be strategic to encourage a positive commercial impact. Diving into the deep end, with no end goal on what it is you want to achieve, or a roadmap on how you’re going to get there, will derail a bank's plan to digitally modernise.”

Farida Gibbs continues: “The banking industry is made up of a mixture of the old and new.  Banks may have deep industry domain knowledge but that no longer sets them apart as fintechs. In addition, tech giants are increasingly getting to grips with the mechanic of how the industry works, and piece by piece taking a slice of the market share.

“The old phrase ‘stick to what you know’ comes to mind. But that doesn’t mean you’re alone. Banks may not be the tech experts, but they know their industry and through collaboration with digital teams, banks can get to grips on how they can make their banking services more digital.

“Ready-to-go teams on hand with the skills and expertise to hit the ground running support banks to deal with all things digital, from reworking large scale legacy IT architecture to developing mobile apps. This takes the risks from the banks and offers a cost effective solution – banks can scale up and down resources as and when they need, to suit changing business objectives.”