Irish banks ‘latecomers’ on digital services – Deloitte study
Irish banks lag behind their global counterparts when it comes to their digital services offering.
This is according to a study of banks globally carried out by professional services firm, Deloitte, which is based on input from 5,000 customers of around 320 financial institutions worldwide.
The Digital Banking Maturity Study places Ireland in the last of four categories of digital service offering.
While Ireland is still considered a digital ‘latecomer’, banks here are moving closer to the third category of ‘adopters’.
Banks in Turkey, Spain, Poland and Russia maintained their position in the first category of ‘digital champions’, according to the study.
Spanish banks Santander and BBVA are also in this category.
“While Ireland’s banks do well on information gathering and sharing, day-to-day banking and expanding relationships beyond banking, they need to do more in the areas of personal finance management and investment services,” David Dalton, Partner and Financial Services Industry leader at Deloitte Ireland, said.
The study coincides with moves by four of the main banks here to work together to develop digital payments services to counteract the threat from financial technology companies like Revolut and N26.
“Banks like N26 and Revolut have shaken up markets elsewhere and they have a presence in Ireland. However, until they can offer a full suite of services, such as mortgages and pensions, they will remain in the challenger bank space,” Mr Dalton added.
“If they were to make moves towards offering those services it would certainly shake up the traditional landscape of the five pillar banks here.”
Yvonne Byrne, Deloitte Partner and Digital Financial Services leader, said there was an opportunity for Irish banks to make huge strides with their digital services.
“The market is open for a bank to deliver great customer experience on the basic day-to-day banking services and start exploring bigger, bolder moves to disrupt the market here before competitors take the opportunity to lead the charge,” she added.
Article Source – Irish banks ‘latecomers’ on digital services – Deloitte study – RTE – Brian Finn
