2010 is here. As many of us are thinking about the year ahead, some are looking further ahead (see Denise Wymore‘s ‘Ask the Experts’ series of interviews about what marketing will look like in 2020 here, here, and here). As we think about what will happen in banking 10 years from now, I wanted to share this piece about banking in 2010 that ran 10 years ago in Bank Marketing magazine:
A local retailer has completed her business for the day. Instead of physically driving to her bank to make a deposit, she accesses her account by computer, through which a tiny camera verifies her identity by retinal scan. She calls up her account information via the Internet and arranges to transfer cash from her customers’ accounts into her own. While at the bank’s Web site, she notices that the institution is conducting a retirement planning seminar that interests her. She sends the bank a confirmation of her attendance by video conference.
Science fiction straight out of Star Trek? Not really. This could be a bank customer’s daily routine in the year 2010.
How do today’s banking practices need to change to meet customer needs in the next century?…
Some aspects of this ‘sneak peak’ have become reality: accessing accounts by computer, making deposits without visiting a physical branch, transferring money between accounts, and learning about seminars from an institution’s website. These have in fact become part of many daily routines.
At the same time, some of this is not part of today’s reality: most institutions are not verifying identities using retinal scans (are any?) and most of us aren’t video conferencing with our financial institutions (but there may be reason to do so).
As we begin 2010, it’s interesting to look back on the changes that have happened in the last 10 years…or even over the course of the last year alone. And it’s encouraging to see that some people are looking pretty far into the future. Hopefully that will prompt the kind of innovation we need to make 2010 a great year.
Happy New Year!