(Finance) – “The majority of Web3 solutions being tested or in production are Blockchain-based (73%). Each Institute, on average, experiments with around 2 projects, while more than one project is already developed or in production with blockchain technology As for other technologies for the sector, 12% of the market is concentrating on the study of solutions relating to the Digital Euro (12% of the total projects); few projects are linked to Crypto/stable coins (6%) and Metaverso (9%). This is due to the high level of risk linked to these innovations and only partly to technological maturity.” This is what emerges from the latest report “Designing the next digital banking experience” by Cetif Research – Cetif Business Unit, Research Center of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan – created in collaboration with NTT DATA. Objective of the research, conducted through one to one interviews to professionals in the banking world and surveys to primary national credit institutions, is the study of the evolution of the user experience within banking and financial institutions, with the aim of guaranteeing technological and innovative solutions for an increasingly fluid offer and personalized.
“In the same way, almost the entire market in the next 18 months considers investment in Blockchain to be a high priority (75%), followed by that in Digital Euro, in which 75% of institutions will invest with medium-high priority. On cryptocurrencies and stable coin, 25% of the market claims to want to invest in it massively, compared to 50% who do not consider the investment a priority. Investment expectations are also very “cold” for the Metaverse, only 25% of the market , in fact, claims that it will invest in technology and with medium priority”, we continue to read in the report.
“The advent of the web and the digitalisation process of the financial market have had a significant impact on the user experience, being able to transform the ways in which users interact with financial services, offering greater convenience, speed and accessibility and allowing even the automation of complex processes,” he commented Paolo Gatelli, Senior Research Manager of Cetif | Catholic University. “Today, the Web3 revolution can radically redefine the user experience in the financial sector, making it increasingly immersive, innovative, secure and personalized, introducing a new era of autonomy and transparency.”
“The advent of Web 3.0 is opening up new opportunities in the banking sector, pushing credit institutions to adopt technologies, such as Blockchain, capable of redefining the financial landscape. As NTT DATA, we have always been committed to supporting our customers in a close virtuous synergy to facilitate their digital transition. We are technological enablers, and we work not only to improve the tools, but also to increase their adoption rate, convinced that only in this way is it possible to ferry Italy towards the future”, he commented Alberto Garella, Head of Banking of NTT DATA Italia.
In summary, the potential impacts of Web3 technologies on business, processes and User Experience design see the Digital Euro as the potentially most impactful innovation, followed by crypto/stable coins and the Blockchain. The interviewees, belonging to the areas of innovation and digital channels, believe that the implementation of one of the proposed solutions can have relatively greater impacts on their own area of responsibility, rather than on the entire group to which they belong. The Digital Euro could have a high impact especially in terms of business, rather than on UX and processes.
As for the risks, the major critical issues considered by the market are linked to the reputational and image nature, the latter considered very high for 20% of the market, together with the risks of operational losses, very high for 14% of the market. The concern is aimed at the effect that the technological solutions analyzed could have on the trust of its customers. Furthermore, fragmented and evolving legislation denotes uncertainty. The improvement of customer experience and customer satisfaction (very high rating for 22% of the market) represent the greatest opportunities in the implementation of Web3 solutions, together with the growth of competitive advantage (very high for 14% of the market) that an early adoption of the solutions could entail.
The research results highlight how financial institutions recognize the important role of the evolution of the regulatory body, the training of staff and customers, together with the identification of new service and product models. The absence of use cases that bring added and functional value to the market prevents the development and adoption of new technological solutions. In fact, if until now the market has managed to implement solutions especially on Blockchain technology, it has been thanks to the relative ease of identifying new service models and interesting use cases, compared to other technological solutions.
(Photo: Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash)