Skip to main content
Perspective:
Perspective
2 minute read

Realising the digital promise

COVID-19 catalyses and accelerates transformation in financial services

A perspective from the Institute of International Finance and Deloitte

Realising the digital promise COVID-19 catalyses and accelerates transformation in financial services
5 MB PDF

 

Prior to COVID-19, the financial services industry was already evolving at a rapid pace, driven by changing customer expectations, heightened competition from incumbents and new entrants, evolving regulations, and advancements in technology. Yet, despite these trends, customers’ willingness to adopt—and firms’ willingness to invest in—digital remained inconsistent across players, markets, and continents.

In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 has forced radical changes in customer behavior, moved significant portions of the economy online, and increased customers’ comfort and willingness to engage digitally. Moreover, for many financial institutions, COVID-19 has unlocked hidden potential, stripping away many of the barriers that organisations traditionally face in realising the digital promise.

The Institute of International Finance and Deloitte have joined together to explore digital transformation in financial institutions. In this supplement, Realising the digital promise: COVID-19 catalyses and accelerates transformation in financial services, we examine the four fundamental shifts brought on by COVID-19 that have accelerated digital transformation in the financial services industry, discuss the role digital has played in financial institutions’ pandemic response, and explore the implications for these institutions as they navigate the uncharted waters ahead. We also offer 10 “no regret” actions across customers, businesses, shareholders and stakeholders, and employees/workforce that financial institutions can take today to thrive in the new normal.

The four fundamental shifts brought on by COVID-19 are:

Forced adoption of online, mobile, and call center

Overnight virtualisation of workforce and ways of working

Tipping point for digital and contactless payments

Evolution of underlying market structure and economics


Read the report to learn more.

Stay tuned for our third and final report, which will explore the role of the external ecosystem for financial institutions in their digital transformation journey. As part of this, we will investigate what influence the external ecosystem will have on financial institutions in overcoming some of the challenges associated with the digital transformation outlined in our first report, Realising the digital promise: Top nine challenges to digital transformation for financial institutions.

Also explore the second paper in the series, Realising the digital promise: Key enablers for digital transformation in financial services.

Realising the digital promise - the COVID catalyst

Contacts

Michael Tang

Deloitte - Canada
Michael is the appointed Industry Managing Partner of the Technology, Media and Entertainment & Telecom (TMT) Practice in Canada & Chile. After spending almost two decades in the Financial Services Industry-focused from Large scale delivery to disruption & innovation, he is heading back to his foundational roots of Technology, and pivoting from Digital Transformation to how the role of The Ecosystem and how Industry Convergence is enabled by Technology. Michael brings his experience working with Senior Executives across FinTech to BigTech on industries’ most challenging signature issues by blending in his innovation and creativity toward building a Technology focused practice at Deloitte. As traditional industry lines continue to blur, Michael believes that technology will play a pivotal role in the transformation across all industries. He leads Deloitte with helping build and shape a practice servicing the firm’s Technology & Media clients to scale and grow with providing services of Audit, Tax & Advisory. He also works with the ecosystem of Venture Capital, Private Equity, and various Innovation communities.
View Profile

Did you find this useful?

Yes
No

Thanks for your feedback

If you would like to help improve Deloitte.com further, please complete a 3-minute survey

Your feedback is important to us

To tell us what you think, please update your settings to accept analytics and performance cookies

Need help updating cookies?

Recommendations

The next generation of data-sharing in financial services

Research
5 minute read

Realising the digital promise in financial services

Research
5 minute read

Realising the digital promise

For financial institutions (FIs), digital transformation is essential to future-proofing the business and improving customer experience, employee capabilities, operational efficiency and business economics. This point is particularly relevant in light of the COVID-19 crisis and the ability of FIs to respond.
Research
3 minute read

Do sustainable banks outperform?

Do sustainable banks outperform? Driving value creation through ESG practices outlines the results of collaborative research undertaken by Deloitte, the EIB, the GABV and KKS Advisers that explores the link between a bank’s financial performance and its focus on material sustainability issues as defined by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
Research
3 minute read