The president of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), Alejandra Kindelán, today called for adapting banking regulation and supervision to the current situation, because “we cannot manage the present and build the future with rules from the past”.
Technological transformation is advancing so fast that it is necessary to continually assess whether regulation is responding adequately to market developments, he explained at the opening of the ‘Revolution Banking’ event.
The banking sector has conveyed to the European Commission the urgent need to simplify regulation and supervision, as well as to advance in the integration of the banking market in the EU. “We have an opportunity to grow and become more competitive,” he said.
The president of the AEB insisted on the need to safeguard stability and consumer protection, but also to prevent the regulatory framework from slowing down innovation or the development of European solutions.
Resilience is not limited to energy or raw materials – he has pointed out – but also encompasses payment systems, digital solutions and the ability to finance the economy and innovation at scale.
“Banks are major technology players,” with infrastructures that work around the clock, and 75% of their customers are digital, which forces them to innovate more and more quickly, without putting trust at risk, he emphasized.
The president of the AEB defended digital banking, which broadens access to financial services, reduces geographical barriers and facilitates the daily lives of the elderly, the self-employed, SMEs and citizens in both urban and rural environments.
However, he recalled that Spain has the second largest branch network in the euro zone and 83,000 physical points of contact with customers. “There is no other public or private service with this level of coverage”. It is a combination of capillarity and digitalization that “places Spanish banks among the best in the world and, of course, as the best in Europe”.
For Kindelán, “competing in banking is competing in technology”, although the difference compared to other sectors is systemic responsibility, as it safeguards the savings, data and trust of millions of people and companies.
Artificial intelligence
On the use of artificial intelligence (AI), the president of AEB explained that it has become a clear ally for banking to continue to fulfill its function: “it is no longer a future promise, but a reality fully integrated into banking activity”.
Banking has been one of the first sectors to adopt AI intensively, with applications in fraud detection, risk management, service personalization, customer service and operational efficiency, he said.
Kindelán also highlighted the essential role of banking in an increasingly broad and diverse ecosystem of payment methods, with a greater number of players. Spain has a particularly advanced payments ecosystem, with infrastructures such as Iberpay or Redsys, and solutions such as Bizum, already incorporated into day-to-day business.
In the current geostrategic context, he said, “it is essential, even existential, that we have a European payment solution”. He added that banks are already collaborating in sector platforms and also with central banks to develop the necessary infrastructures for tokenized money.
