London, 18 December 2018 – Onguard’s FinTech Barometer, a survey of over 1000 finance professionals, found that the respondents expect the economy to look completely different within the next 10 years. 43% believe financial institutions will transform into IT businesses.
Over half (59%) are also convinced that the way we pay will fundamentally change within five years.
Collaboration with fintech companies
The arrival of tech giants who are gradually taking over payment traffic from banks indicates a decrease in the role of financial institutions. In order to maintain relevancy, these institutions are working to develop innovative software (28%). Furthermore, they are seeking out collaborations with innovative startups in the field of fintech. One-fifth of the organisations (20%) are already working with one or more startups. Another 14% indicate that they are closely monitoring developments in the fintech market.
But finance professionals are finding that developments are increasing rapidly and hard to keep up with. Over a third (36%) are struggling to keep up with developments within the financial world. Notably, 74% of professionals in financial services believe that their current employer will still exist in ten years’ time. However, in what form still remains uncertain. 47% of those surveyed anticipate that new technologies, such as robotisation, will result in fewer jobs in the financial sector. Interestingly, however, the majority are not worried about the future of their own job. 87% believe their current role will still exist in ten years’ time.
Marieke Saeij, CTO at Onguard, says: “We are living in a platform economy in which financial institutions are increasingly entering into collaborations with innovative parties, and where digital transformation is taking place rapidly. As a result, financial institutions are making more and more use of IT. The prediction that they will transform into IT businesses within the next decade is not surprising. Furthermore, the majority of finance professionals not worried about the disappearance of their own job is also justified. Although the automation of many processes is possible, we will always require people to control these processes and actually speak to the customer.”
