We know well how digital is driving the whole business world towards a radical transformation; much less obvious is the fact that not all the businesses need to be such radical in their evolution. Today we want to explain the different attitudes a company may have versus digital transformation, especially a bank. And why a digital banking platform may become a critical factor in this process.

DIGITAL OPTIMIZATION

One may think that going digital means getting digital tools, configuring them and click a button. Well, not so. Digital is a cultural change other than technical and many factors impact on the digital evolution inside a bank, from who the decision makers are to how the company perceives and responds to change.

The burden of the responsibility is often on CIO’s shoulders, but in case of digital, other stakeholders may have a word to say, like the CEO, C-level executives, or specific department managers.

The stakeholders have to agree on the depth and breadth of the transformation, taking into account the bank culture, how is ready and willing to embrace digital, and the extent to which digital should be adopted. A bank may want to go digital only partially, or by leaps and bounds over time. And, must be aware of what it wants to achieve.

DIFFERENT STEPS, DIFFERENT MEANS

Such an analysis can bring a firm to pursue only part of the digital advantages, with reason. Some bank could opt to go digital only as far as it can optimize its cost structure, and nothing else, for instance, going for a simple multi-channel strategy to address the demands from customers.

Things get more interesting with the next step: digital to achieve the so-called digital transformation, an overhaul of processes and workflow that changes the way of working of the bank and the ecosystem surrounding it. This is the first step of going digital in which the adoption of a digital banking platform is necessary.

PICK YOUR DIGITAL BANKING PLATFORM

The August 2018 Gartner Market Guide for Digital Banking Platforms lists Objectway among 29 digital banking platforms providers.

A platform is needed to pursue the digital transformation goal and, if both internal culture and business strategy allow it, go for a completely digital business, in which every sign of legacy structure or process is forgotten and the bank shares an open architecture with an external ecosystem, free from technical constraints and able to connect with partners and clients in any conceivable way.

A LUNCH PLATFORM

Digital is an imperative today for banks; while a sensible approach may suggest going for a soft adoption of digital, or a partial one, the long term calls for a wholly digitally-run business. That moment, a good and scalable digital banking platform will be an imperative too, and the most experienced players will likely have a better time.

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