Banks are passing through a critical time, while operating in a challenging environment of rapid economic change, thinner margins and increasing regulation. In addition, the crisis European banks are facing further complicates the situation.
During a keynote session at this week’s Ciab (check all stories), Roberto Egydio Setúbal, CEO of Itaú Unibanco Holding, Brazil’s largest private sector bank, said that financial institutions need to increase their capital using new kinds of sources, since increasing spread is out of the question.
“Banks need to renew their business models because they need to increase capital without raising prices and fees on the consumer. So they must improve the efficiency of their business, and IT plays an important role in banks becoming more efficient,” Setúbal said.
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Financial institutions are operating in a new environment, which demands different technology infrastructures and different approaches to consumers, such as using more digital platforms to reach clients. Setúbal noted that remote and digital channels (comprised of ATMs, Internet and mobile banking) have a significant presence right now and will continue to increase year after year.
According to Setúbal’s predictions, digital channels will surpass physical contact (such as at an agency’s bank), but it does not mean that agencies will no longer exist. Thus, mobile channels, such as m-banking, m-payment and m-commerce, will rise to meet a new generation of customer demand.
