Banking and payments in 2023 and beyond: What you need to know?

Banks and financial institutions worldwide are undergoing significant changes in response to various factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISO 20022 migration, and emerging initiatives like Instant Payments in Euros. These challenges necessitate the adoption of the latest technology solutions to meet customer demands, optimize connectivity, and remain competitive and compliant.

Vitus Rotzer, Chief Revenue Officer for Financial Messaging at Bottomline, believes that many financial businesses are not adequately prepared for the future and need to accelerate their technology rollout. To gain valuable insight into industry standards and technology trends, banks and FIs should compare their strategic priorities, product roadmaps, and future plans.

To facilitate this benchmarking process, Bottomline has released its third annual report titled ‘Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments 2023’. The report presents the results of a survey conducted among more than 500 banking and FI players from 32 countries. Areas covered in the survey include meeting customer expectations, advancing digital payments transformation strategies, competitive priorities, and roadmaps for 2023 and beyond.

The report highlights that legacy infrastructure and fraud mitigation are commonly perceived as barriers to success in the industry. Legacy systems pose challenges for 27% of respondents, and 44% prioritize replacing outdated IT systems in the next 12 months. Transitioning from on-premises software to software-as-a-service (SaaS) is suggested as a solution to overcome these limitations and align with industry mandates and continuous innovation. SaaS technology offers operational efficiency, interoperability, scalability, enhanced security, and compliance.

Adopting new payment platforms like real-time payments is a top priority for banks and FIs, with 45% prioritizing fraud reduction as well. These priorities go hand in hand, and ISO 20022 is expected to enhance fraud monitoring and management capabilities.

Cross-border payments are another area of focus, with 52% of respondents giving it higher importance. The lack of visibility into payment status is a pain point for 35% of respondents, despite solutions like ISO 20022 and Swift gpi being available. Collaboration and leveraging cross-border payment platforms are essential to address this challenge, especially for the APAC region, where diverse currencies and trading partnerships exist.

To gain deeper insights into the banking and payments industry’s priorities and plans, interested parties can access the full report ‘The Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments 2023’.

FAQ:

1. Why do banks and financial institutions need to adopt the latest technology solutions?
Banks and FIs need to adopt the latest technology solutions to meet customer demands, optimize connectivity, and remain competitive and compliant in an evolving industry.

2. What is the ‘Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments 2023’ report?
The ‘Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking & Payments 2023’ report is an annual survey-based benchmarking report by Bottomline that provides insights into industry trends, strategic priorities, and technology roadmaps.

3. What are the common barriers to success in the industry?
Legacy infrastructure and fraud mitigation are commonly perceived as barriers to success in the industry.

4. How can banks and FIs overcome the limitations of legacy infrastructure?
Transitioning from on-premises software to software-as-a-service (SaaS) is suggested as a solution to overcome the limitations of legacy infrastructure.

5. What are the top priorities for banks and FIs?
The top priorities for banks and FIs include adopting new payment platforms like real-time payments and reducing fraud.

6. How can banks and FIs enhance cross-border payment capabilities?
Collaboration, cooperation, and leveraging cross-border payment platforms are essential to enhance cross-border payment capabilities, especially in regions with diverse currencies and trading partnerships.