Finastra reveals corporate bank priorities for 2025 as digitization and fintech collaboration accelerate

- New research outlines changing focus - a move away from the traditional 'relationship builder' approach of client interaction and management

- Digital transformation budgets set to increase by a third over the next five years in trade finance and cash management

LONDON, March 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Research from Finastra, unveiled today at its flagship (virtual) industry event – Finastra Universe – shows changing priorities for corporate banks and their customers over the next five years. It reveals that corporate banks are moving away from the traditional 'relationship builder' approach of client interaction and management (where they build wider banking relationships with clients to cross-sell additional services) towards being 'platform players' that offer value-added services and can deliver real-time execution.

Torsten Pull, SVP & General Manager for Corporate Banking at Finastra, said, "The pandemic has brought the future forward, forcing banks to adapt their operations in lending, trade finance and cash management, and accelerate digital transformation. To thrive, these organizations must change their business models, adopting new infrastructures that support the journey towards digital, end-to-end, platform-driven corporate banking. We wouldn't expect this shift to remove the role of the relationship manager, rather digitization enhances their ability to access insightful data for quicker decision making."

The research, which gauged the views of over 700 heads of relationship, technology and product across global corporate banks, shows how their priorities are changing over the next five years in line with their corporate clients' requirements. The responses show that corporates will prioritize online banking, value-added services, and real-time service and execution above their banks' range of products and services and relationship management in the next five years.

Corporate banks must respond. Appetite for change exists, as digital transformation budgets within these organizations are expected to increase by 2025:

• Cash management and trade finance - banks expect digital development budgets to grow by around 30%
• Lending - banks expect digital development budgets to increase by 20%

As relationship management falls in priority and the pandemic highlights gaps, corporate banks are changing their focus: