The popular operating models in corporate banking are moving towards an open ecosystem. Corporate banking is a type of banking that combines the services of a commercial bank and an investment bank into a single entity. From deposit accounts to different investment services to insurance services, the sweep of services in corporate banking is vast.
In the future, an ecosystem approach, which opens banking platforms to external partners to expand their capabilities, functionality, and services, will allow corporate banks to host their products, like corporate loans, as well as access to complementary partner products, like insurance, and joint products, like syndicated loans, blockchain-based digital ecosystems, and placement of third-party competing products.
The momentum is in place. However, the challenges remain
Most corporate banks are universal players today, but a look into the future shows that there will be a 42% change in the platform business model between now and 2026, with corporate banks looking more towards orchestrating ecosystems and exploring partnerships.
Over 45% of the people who answered the RedHat survey said that open APIs, mobile, and advanced analytics are essential to their organizations. They also noted that current technologies, like artificial intelligence (cited by 62% of respondents) and robotic process automation (cited by 52% of respondents), are critical to getting their businesses where they want them to be. Not far behind (45%) are cloud computing, conversational banking, and Bitcoin.
Partnering with domain experts in corporate banking, like Maveric Systems, offers banks and FIs the latest advantages to their overall growth strategy.
Digital Innovation Priorities for Corporate Banking
- Open B2B APIs: Over the years, many banks have worked with their business clients to build monolithic transaction banking systems and proprietary Host-2-Host adapters. These are now being replaced by B2B services based on APIs. This is not only faster, but it also costs a lot less.
- Digital SME Banks: The SME sector is a critical business area for commercial banks, as 80–85% of their clients are in this sector. Financial institutions should strongly consider offering a digital SME banking solution, where onboarding, account services, salary processing, payments, and essential trade services are provided through a digital platform supported by virtual relationship managers and robot workers.
- Influence of Blockchain Technologies: The business of trade banking is being changed. Distributed ledgers and blockchains are here to stay. Documentation, secure delivery, and contracting were significant problems in the industry, but a consortium-based approach has helped to solve them.
- Higher IT Investments: The Culture of Innovation Index shows the results. Corporate banking is one of the best-performing verticals across all of the ones that were looked at. This shows that many banks, especially corporate banks, are now looking at how to offer innovation with a real sense of urgency. This is partly due to the rise of open banking and the increasing development of Real-Time Payments (RTP), which have sped up the creation of business cases for more significant transformation projects.
- Cash and Liquidity Management: The other top goals for the industry are to improve security and fraud detection (46% of banks put this in their top three), to improve liquidity management services (46%), and to make cash management better (45%). Security has always been important, and these efforts will go towards several projects inside the bank to improve customer service. Regarding cash and liquidity management, the focus is on solving some of the biggest problems that company treasurers face.
Conclusion
Corporate banking is going through a significant change. New technologies, changing customer wants and expectations, and new market infrastructures push corporate banks worldwide toward digital transformation projects. These projects will be the basis for new products, strategies, and business models.
But now more than ever, how banks approach these change projects will significantly affect how well their goals are met. Traditional models like centrally planned or heavily technology-focused approaches must be more effective. Organizations that continue to drive innovation from the top down should expect to fall behind competitors who see innovation as an enterprise-wide movement.
About Maveric Systems
Starting in 2000, Maveric Systems is a niche, domain-led Banking Tech specialist partnering with global banks to solve business challenges through emerging technology. 3000+ tech experts use proven frameworks to empower our customers to navigate a rapidly changing environment, enabling sharper definitions of their goals and measures to achieve them.
Across retail, corporate & wealth management, Maveric accelerates digital transformation through native banking domain expertise, a customer-intimacy-led delivery model, and a vibrant leadership supported by a culture of ownership.
With centers of excellence for Data, Digital, Core Banking, and Quality Engineering, Maveric teams work in 15 countries with regional delivery capabilities in Bangalore, Chennai, Dubai, London, Poland, Riyadh, and Singapore.
