A challenge of colossal proportions. This represents the adaptation to the rapid process of digitalization in the global economy. In the banking sector, the phenomenon is even more challenging as it encompasses all activities, the entire organization, and even the very nature of the business, such that what digitalization puts at stake is the survival of the entities themselves and, indeed, the industry as a whole.
Digitalization, therefore, forces banking entities to simultaneously address several fronts: they must understand the reconfiguration of the environment, changes in customer behavior, who the new competitors in the financial services market are and how they act, and how to use technology as a facilitator for this entire process. These factors are sufficient for banks to currently be reviewing their strategies and redefining the way they have done things until now. Furthermore, they must do all of this while the car is in motion. That is, while carrying out their digital adaptation, banks must ensure value creation, manage efficiency, transform corporate culture, change working methods, and incorporate talent and new capabilities into the company.
None of this is easy and, moreover, it is very costly, but fortunately, change is nothing new for our entities. If the Spanish banking sector has been characterized by anything throughout its recent history, it is its ability to incorporate new technologies as they appeared—computers, ATMs, credit cards—so that banking today has little or nothing to do with that of 20 or 30 years ago. Permanent transformation is part of the nature of our entities, so it is to be expected that they will turn this challenge into a seam of opportunities to improve their products and services.
José María Roldán, Chairman of the Spanish Banking Association
