BANK OF THE FUTURE

Banks downsizing their branch networks could be jeopardizing their future. Traditional branches, physical, built of brick and mortar, are, almost everywhere in the world, increasingly empty, with elderly clientele seemingly being the only ones to visit them, because more and more are switching to digital banking and, as a result, rarely go to physical branches. Financial service providers are expanding their role in providing services to consumers, managing or using money, and the greater this role, the more disrupted the bank-client relationship will be. Bank regulations increasingly leave room for IT companies to enter the banking services market or even force banks to cede land to new intermediaries. Banks and banking analysts are currently talking about the opportunities offered by the Internet of Things - the multitude of objects interconnected via the Internet - and how they can be adapted to banks' IT platforms, about the blockchain technology on which virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are based, about the development of real-time payment systems and the need to change banks' business models. But in this context we must also think about the security of information in the virtual space, the management of risks in the context of the digital revolution and the threats to cybersecurity. So what will the banks of the future look like?