Although I said yesterday that I struggle with banks being disintermediated, I did leave out one critical point.
Many things have appeared in the banking world during my time, and been tried and dismissed.
Biometrics has been long discussed for authentication, but is yet to be seen.
The end of the branch has been long discussed, but is yet to be seen.
The cashless society has been on the agenda for ages, but is yet to be seen.
Video based digital service has been talked about for eons, but is yet to be seen.
And the end of banking as we know it has been debated since I started in this industry … and is yet to be seen.
But then something else sits uncomfortably in the back of my mind.
Biometrics is yet to be seen, and yet it can be seen.
The end of the branch is yet to be seen, but it can also be seen.
A cashless society is yet to be seen, but it is being seen.
Video based digital service is yet to be seen, and it is literally seen.
And whilst we have not seen the end of banking, if you sit complacently believing it won’t happen then you are not seeing.
…. so keep your eyes open.
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...
