As technology accelerates, the financial sector must break free from incremental changes and embrace bold, exponential innovations. In my previous article, I discussed how financial institutions, fintech companies, and even core banking software providers could reimagine their futures. Today, I offer a deeper look into transformative ideas that could fundamentally alter the way banks operate and how financial services interact with our daily lives.
Redefining Money as a Programmable Asset
The concept of open banking and APIs is just the beginning. What if money itself became a technology platform, capable of being programmed for various uses? Chinese tech giant WeBank is offering early glimpses with embedded finance services, but this vision extends far beyond that. Imagine a scenario where every financial transaction becomes programmable, with money evolving beyond simple exchanges.
By treating currency as code, banks could build automated systems that optimize financial flows, ensuring funds are constantly allocated to their most productive uses. This would go beyond smart contracts, introducing self-managing financial systems that operate independently of human intervention. Banks would no longer just be service providers but architects of an entirely new economic infrastructure, redefining how value circulates across the global economy.
Transforming Human Interactions into Economic Opportunities
Imagine a world where financial services are so seamlessly integrated into daily life that they become invisible. This vision seeks to transform social networks into economic platforms, where every interaction – whether personal or professional – holds potential value.
By leveraging customer data in exchange for benefits, this approach could create opportunities for value exchange across a broad spectrum of activities. It’s about making every conversation, transaction, or social exchange an economic opportunity. Just like Web3, this vision pushes banking far beyond traditional systems, embedding it within the fabric of our everyday interactions.
Making Financial Complexity Disappear
While many institutions speak of simplifying financial services, a bolder vision would render financial complexity entirely invisible. In this future, banking becomes an effortless, behind-the-scenes operation, where AI-driven systems autonomously manage investments, taxes, insurance, and financial planning – all without needing user intervention.
This shift would involve an understanding of diverse customer needs at various life stages. With advanced reasoning models and conversational AI, banks could automatically tailor financial strategies to individuals, optimizing their wealth without direct input. Such a transformation would make sophisticated financial planning accessible to all, regardless of their expertise or financial knowledge.
Creating the Operating System for Global Commerce
Reimagining banks as the backbone of global commerce could fundamentally change how businesses operate. By integrating payments, identity management, contracts, and business services into a single seamless platform, banks could make starting and managing businesses as simple as using a smartphone app.
Banks would transcend traditional roles, becoming a comprehensive, integrated platform that blends enterprise resource planning (ERP) with customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The emerging MACH architecture and BIAN standards are laying the foundation for this vision, but it requires an even more ambitious approach: transforming banks into the universal operating system that powers global commerce.
Unlocking the Earning Potential of Every Individual
What if banks could actively grow your wealth by matching you with earning opportunities based on your skills and personal circumstances? The rise of quantum computing and artificial general intelligence (AGI) is making this increasingly feasible.
This vision shifts the role of banks from being passive custodians of wealth to active partners in wealth creation. By using AI to identify and recommend personalized earning opportunities, banks could help individuals grow their financial potential. This model redefines the relationship between banks and customers, evolving from a service-based model to one centered on shared economic success.
Conclusion: Courage in the Face of Change
These visionary ideas might seem far-fetched today, but given the rapid pace of technological advancement, they could become a reality sooner than expected. The question is not whether these ideas are possible, but whether the banking sector is ready to take on the challenge. In an age where technological constraints are fading, the only true limitation is our imagination. Will banks have the vision and courage to pursue these groundbreaking innovations?
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