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Bank 2.0: How Customer Behavior and Technology Will Change the Future of Financial Services
The financial crisis is just beginning for retail institutions. Ninety to ninety-five per cent of bank transactions are executed electronically today. The Internet, ATMs, call centres and smartphones have become mainstream for customers. But banks still classify these as alternative channels and maintain an organisation structure where Branch dominates thinking. Continued technology innovations, Web 2.0, social networking, app phones and mobility are also stretching traditional banking models to the limit. BANK 2.0 reveals why customer behaviour is so rapidly changing, how branches will evolve, why cheques are disappearing, and why your mobile phone will replace your wallet all within the next 10 years.
360 pages, Library Binding
First published April 15, 2010
32 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Brett King
12 books40 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 29, 2011
Had to read this one for work. Not too enthused.
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January 28, 2022What this book is about?
Back in 2010 when this book came out, it must have been a futuristic concept of how banking will look like in the next decade. I read this book recently in 2022 and thus my review might be biased. Brett King is one of the very few journalist specializing in the banking sector that too of south east asia. Reading his book reminisces me of a book called “the World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, published in 2005, about globalization. It was sensational reading it in 2009, but again looking back from the future lots of questions arise.
The author in Bank 2.0 was basically saying that banks must embrace the concept of branchless banking and embrace anything and everything technology based. From ATM, to internet banking to mobile banking. In this book QR code hadn’t been discovered yet. So many of his predictions came to light.
In banking, we have come a long way since the widespread success of M-Paisa in Kenya in which money was transferred on sim cards via sms. So the author rants endlessly on how to have to make the automatic voice system more fluid and less the reflection of the organization chart. He has some real valid points as to why physical forms are necessary? He urges banks and regulators to become more flexible.
Looking back I realize that banks in Nepal also jumped into the information technology bandwagon since last decade.
According to King, customer don’t want to come to bank branches and face the CSR (customer service relationship). They want to solve all their banking needs online from home or wherever they are. So banks, he says must adapt to this changing customer expectation.
My counter argument
However I disagree that customers would not want to come to branches and thus focusing fully on technology is the way to go.
1 There are many problems in banking work even educated, tech savvy customers face that need a CSR to solve face to face. So even if the customers don’t like to face to face contact anymore, they will still will be forced to do so.
2 People are social creatures. Biologically they need a hormone called oxytocin to feel good. That hormone is secreted only through social interactions. So unless the biology of humans has changed, people will still prefer to visit branches as far as possible.
3 The number of cheque transactions, the authors notes, has substantially decreased over every passing year. It is true but the crowd in our banks has not seemed to decrease. May be it is a proportion game. At the time of this book, the number of account holders was less than now. So a lower of percentage (cheque transaction) of a bigger number (account holders) is still a big number.
4 the author is talking about re-engineering all processes of banking like bankers of nepal today are. That must have been visionary then. But banking is as vital to government and stable politics as transactions of land and property. Making short cuts will allow fraudsters and thus destabilize the economy. So as much as we wish, banking will never or can never be a one-click solution.
5 In 1969, when Neil Amstrong became the first man to land on the moon, experts predicted we would colonize the galaxy if not Mars by 2000 and many science fiction movies depicted this theme. However in 2022, we all know it is not technologically possible for the foreseen future. In the same token, having reached as far as QR code to make transactions, we might be lead to believe in the future banks will be technological organization like Amazon or Paypal or Esewa but if you consider my 4 earlier points you will agree with me that this idea is hogus pogus. Banks are about serving customers and technology is a good medium but branches can’t be phased out: customers will revolt and move to your competitor with more branches and better service.
The real future of banking
The author wrote 2 sequels of this book:
Bank 3.0: Why Banking Is No Longer Somewhere You Go But Something You Do
Bank 4.0: banking everywhere, never at a bank
As you can guess from the titles, King has not changed his position about technology.
But I beg to differ having worked as a management consultant and trainer in the banking sector now now the past 17 years.
I believe the future of banking is in customer service. The bank that has a culture, system and structure to deliver the best customer service will become no.1 by sheer public demand. To bankers I don’t think I need say more.
The technological race will soon end unless we plant to implant microchips in our arms to make transactions. The next and endless race deals with the human aspect starting with the branch employees.
Since I am writing a book review and not my own book, it will suffice to say this much.
How is it useful to you in your :
Life
x
Business
x
Career
x
Conclusion
This book does not have an universal appeal and if you read this far, either you are a banker or you are a really curious person. Either way I hope you enjoyed how I argued with the writer in this review.
Books and banking are very few so I read this one although i knew it was excessively long.
The author is a also a speaker and I could imagine how he would awe the crowd with the next big idea without the burden of having the execute it.
It also helped me be more versed in banking speeches. I learn a lot from books. Unfortunately most people don’t know that or if they did, can’t learn enough. I think my biggest talent is that i can learn instantaneously vast amount information and transform it into my own innate knowledge. It takes practice like any skills, though.
Back in 2010 when this book came out, it must have been a futuristic concept of how banking will look like in the next decade. I read this book recently in 2022 and thus my review might be biased. Brett King is one of the very few journalist specializing in the banking sector that too of south east asia. Reading his book reminisces me of a book called “the World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman, published in 2005, about globalization. It was sensational reading it in 2009, but again looking back from the future lots of questions arise.
The author in Bank 2.0 was basically saying that banks must embrace the concept of branchless banking and embrace anything and everything technology based. From ATM, to internet banking to mobile banking. In this book QR code hadn’t been discovered yet. So many of his predictions came to light.
In banking, we have come a long way since the widespread success of M-Paisa in Kenya in which money was transferred on sim cards via sms. So the author rants endlessly on how to have to make the automatic voice system more fluid and less the reflection of the organization chart. He has some real valid points as to why physical forms are necessary? He urges banks and regulators to become more flexible.
Looking back I realize that banks in Nepal also jumped into the information technology bandwagon since last decade.
According to King, customer don’t want to come to bank branches and face the CSR (customer service relationship). They want to solve all their banking needs online from home or wherever they are. So banks, he says must adapt to this changing customer expectation.
My counter argument
However I disagree that customers would not want to come to branches and thus focusing fully on technology is the way to go.
1 There are many problems in banking work even educated, tech savvy customers face that need a CSR to solve face to face. So even if the customers don’t like to face to face contact anymore, they will still will be forced to do so.
2 People are social creatures. Biologically they need a hormone called oxytocin to feel good. That hormone is secreted only through social interactions. So unless the biology of humans has changed, people will still prefer to visit branches as far as possible.
3 The number of cheque transactions, the authors notes, has substantially decreased over every passing year. It is true but the crowd in our banks has not seemed to decrease. May be it is a proportion game. At the time of this book, the number of account holders was less than now. So a lower of percentage (cheque transaction) of a bigger number (account holders) is still a big number.
4 the author is talking about re-engineering all processes of banking like bankers of nepal today are. That must have been visionary then. But banking is as vital to government and stable politics as transactions of land and property. Making short cuts will allow fraudsters and thus destabilize the economy. So as much as we wish, banking will never or can never be a one-click solution.
5 In 1969, when Neil Amstrong became the first man to land on the moon, experts predicted we would colonize the galaxy if not Mars by 2000 and many science fiction movies depicted this theme. However in 2022, we all know it is not technologically possible for the foreseen future. In the same token, having reached as far as QR code to make transactions, we might be lead to believe in the future banks will be technological organization like Amazon or Paypal or Esewa but if you consider my 4 earlier points you will agree with me that this idea is hogus pogus. Banks are about serving customers and technology is a good medium but branches can’t be phased out: customers will revolt and move to your competitor with more branches and better service.
The real future of banking
The author wrote 2 sequels of this book:
Bank 3.0: Why Banking Is No Longer Somewhere You Go But Something You Do
Bank 4.0: banking everywhere, never at a bank
As you can guess from the titles, King has not changed his position about technology.
But I beg to differ having worked as a management consultant and trainer in the banking sector now now the past 17 years.
I believe the future of banking is in customer service. The bank that has a culture, system and structure to deliver the best customer service will become no.1 by sheer public demand. To bankers I don’t think I need say more.
The technological race will soon end unless we plant to implant microchips in our arms to make transactions. The next and endless race deals with the human aspect starting with the branch employees.
Since I am writing a book review and not my own book, it will suffice to say this much.
How is it useful to you in your :
Life
x
Business
x
Career
x
Conclusion
This book does not have an universal appeal and if you read this far, either you are a banker or you are a really curious person. Either way I hope you enjoyed how I argued with the writer in this review.
Books and banking are very few so I read this one although i knew it was excessively long.
The author is a also a speaker and I could imagine how he would awe the crowd with the next big idea without the burden of having the execute it.
It also helped me be more versed in banking speeches. I learn a lot from books. Unfortunately most people don’t know that or if they did, can’t learn enough. I think my biggest talent is that i can learn instantaneously vast amount information and transform it into my own innate knowledge. It takes practice like any skills, though.
August 19, 2011
Bank 2.0 was written extremely recently (it references 2010), but it still seems hopelessly backwards and out of date. This is the case merely because the industry of banking innovates slowly and carefully. Therefore when Amazon has been making a killing selling everything online for a decade, banks are nubes in making their offers over the internet. Whether this is because of heavy regulation or just simple culture, who knows.
The book is a quick read and gives you an insight into the strange world of retail banking.
The book is a quick read and gives you an insight into the strange world of retail banking.
October 19, 2012
Ready for Bank 3.0 :-)
August 17, 2024
With more people relying on digital banking and personalized experiences, financial institutions are adapting to meet these demands. As customers, it's important to choose the right financial services that align with your needs and values. For example, I’ve found that nusenda credit union offers a great balance of modern technology and personalized service. They’re staying ahead of the curve by embracing new tech while still focusing on their members. In this evolving landscape, picking a financial partner that adapts to both innovation and customer care is necessary.
January 31, 2020
Collection of facts of trivia
March 31, 2020
Radical.
But looking back not all the predictions have gone right. In the hindsight always the case.
More of Handbook.
But looking back not all the predictions have gone right. In the hindsight always the case.
More of Handbook.
August 11, 2021
Outdated. Mainly a lot of charts for systems and channels. Should have skipped to his newer work.
December 29, 2012
This book was a tremendous help to me in building my understanding of the challenges banks and financial institutions face in the years ahead. There was one side benefit of reading this book which I believe to be unintended and that is in its usefulness in painting a picture of how banks work today too.
So why don’t I recommend this book to everyone? This book is a snapshot in time and that time isn’t now, it was two years ago. More a dig at book publishers: is there a way to publish a book regularly to maintain its relevance without punishing readers? The book has elements that are heavily subjective without much basis in precedent or fact. There’s not a lot of them, but they’re there and do take away something from the more concrete points of impact in the book.
So why don’t I recommend this book to everyone? This book is a snapshot in time and that time isn’t now, it was two years ago. More a dig at book publishers: is there a way to publish a book regularly to maintain its relevance without punishing readers? The book has elements that are heavily subjective without much basis in precedent or fact. There’s not a lot of them, but they’re there and do take away something from the more concrete points of impact in the book.
June 20, 2011
Banking 2.0 was a good read particularly for anyone new to the industry. The author did a nice job of summarizing the history and growth in each of the concepts he discussed. However, I was a bit turned off by the arrogance in the tone of the book. Clearly if you did not approach growth in the banking industry from his perspective you were not as smart as he thought himself to be. The concepts he identified were not new, however, as always there are many great ideas --- its the ability to execute successfully on the ideas that is always the challenge.
October 15, 2012
Interesting read. I work in the industry but not at an actual financial institution so much of this was a little too inside baseball. However, the key points and insights were intriguing. Also, even though the book is from 2010, I found a few things already a little outdated (particularly around mobile technology) but largely much of the content is still very, very relevant.
June 18, 2011
Pretty basic read about the technologies, channels, and applications in banking. There are some interesting considerations highlighted such as how to adapt your practices to make it simple for your customers. Good read if you are looking for a primer on these areas.
April 23, 2012
Recommended if you're in banking and need a crash course in the possibilities of new technology.
October 6, 2012
nice job, quite readable and some stories worth using. Some material is same old, same old, but much of it is freshly done.
July 14, 2013
Nicely written with interesting insights. Liked industry examples. My focus was on channels. Plans to read Bank 3.0.
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June 1, 2015Location: GG7 IRC
Accession No: DL027093
Accession No: DL027093
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews