Banks in 2012: Predictions of the Future or Statements of the Present?

Many have you have read various predictions related to the Banking industry over the past few months. Here at Progress Software, we’d also like to chime in with a few observations of what the industry looks like today and what 2012 will bring.

1. As we have seen with the airline industry, 2012 will witness the emergence of more banking alliances. To win customer loyalty, banks will partner with retail and other third party consumer businesses to create more cross-sell opportunities. But we think this new model will be a bit harder for banks to adopt due to the “siloed” nature of their organizations and infrastructure.
2. Banks will do their best to launch social media apps as part of their mobile and channels strategies to better serve their customers. However until banks understand how to capture payment and other transactions in real-time, they will struggle to deliver real value.
3. With the boarding of financial banking apps on smartphones, new ways of skimming will appear. Anti-virus companies will hop on the bandwagon and banks will have to develop strategies and tactics to sense and respond in real-time to these types of fraud.

I look forward to discussing any thoughts and opinions you may also have as well.