Banking is what we do … but technology is how we do it

A friend turned to me the other day and said: Chris, you always talk about the future and what’s going to change … why don’t you talk about what is not going to change?

The question stopped me in my tracks, but it cuts to the core of strategic choices. Start with the things that don’t change, then look at the things that will change how those things are done. One bank summed it up well with the comment that banking is what we do, but technology is how we do it. This is the change we are living through today. The thing is what doesn’t change?

I’ve written a lot about history in finance and the core of the market is borrowing, lending, saving, investing, spending and payments. None of these needs have changed in a thousand years. Just as the basics of humanity revolve around buying, selling, family, relationships, power and control, nothing changes in our basic needs. What is changing is how they are delivered. A good example is a headline this week about people who feel a connection with a chatbot that is as strong as a relationship with a friend. Some would say seriously weird, whilst others would say good for you.

Men who have virtual “wives” and neurodiverse people using chatbots to help them navigate relationships are among a growing range of ways in which artificial intelligence is transforming human connection and intimacy.

Source: The Guardian

It is interesting how technology is transforming our lives and, for some, the technology is a greater part of their lives than friends or family. Just think of Joaquin Phoenix in the film Her. Here’s a synopsis:

Left heartbroken after his marriage ends, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes fascinated with a new operating system which develops into a unique entity in its own right. He starts the program and meets "Samantha" (Scarlett Johansson), whose bright voice reveals a sensitive, playful personality. Though "friends" initially, the relationship soon deepens into love.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s one of my fave films.

What gets me is then to consider how we are moving to the incel, single culture of people living in small rooms – houses are no longer affordable – and talking to their tablets. Their relationships are inside their chips and symbiotic with their souls. OMG, that sounds sad yet, from an anthropological perspective is critical to the future of financial services. The thing we need to think about is how can we create delivery that is trusted, relatable, relationship-based, remote, automated, artificial, advisory, using today’s technologies.

Banking is what we do, but technology is how we do it.

In other words, the basics of financial services don’t change. We will always need a way to buy and sell, a way of exchanging value. What we will need tomorrow is another way to do it that is automated and intelligent, trusted and relatable. Are we there yet? Nowhere near. What this means is there is still a huge opportunity to disrupt finance through the next generation of AI-native technologies that create a way to deal with the customer as a friend, not just a service provider.

Banking is what we do, but technology is how we do it.