Strategic lines

The increasingly digital habits and behaviours of the population, along with the use of new technologies, have accelerated the digitalisation process in the banking sector.

The digital transformation is redefining the relationship model between banks and their customers, driving a shift towards more personalised, agile, and convenient value propositions that meet customers’ real-time needs. In an environment where multi-banking is increasingly common and switching providers has become significantly easier, delivering the best customer experience will be a key differentiator.

There is also a rise in the use of new technologies (such as the cloud, tokenisation, and generative Artificial Intelligence), although with different levels of maturity. These technologies enable institutions to gain efficiency, mainly through the simplification and automation of complex processes. To fully capitalise on these opportunities, it will be essential to align business strategy with new market dynamics.

All of this results in a highly dynamic competitive environment, marked by the emergence of new digital players offering innovative and highly specialised financial services. This dynamism is particularly notable in digital payments, with the entry of Fintech and Bigtech companies offering alternative payment solutions and the emergence of new types of money and private payment methods, such as stablecoins.

Digital transformation is vital for the sector’s competitiveness and efficiency, but it also exposes banks to new risks.

The increased digital operations of customers and employees, reliance on third parties, and emerging technologies such as AI make it necessary to increase the focus on cybersecurity, digital fraud, and information protection.

Operational risk, which encompasses potential losses from inadequate internal processes, systems, human errors, or external events impacting organisational operations, is increasingly significant.

Regulatory authorities are promoting stricter sustainability regulations to ensure it is integrated into corporate strategy.

The decarbonisation the European economy is being accompanied by increasingly strict regulations on how to address sustainability, both in terms of information disclosure and banking supervision.

There is also growing pressure from investors, authorities, and supervisors for companies to align their strategies accordingly. The banking sector will play a key role in channelling the investments needed to support the energy transition.