Almost half (48%) of banks in the Middle East say the Covid-19 pandemic is the most important driver of their organisations digital transformation strategy, according to Publicis Sapient’s latest Global Banking Benchmark Study.
Almost all the Middle Eastern banks surveyed by the digital consulting company believe the increasing demand and level of customers’ use of digital channels during the pandemic will continue over the next 12 months.
Banks in the Middle East are also increasingly prioritising offering new services and products to advance their customer experience transformation, once again driven by increasing competition from direct competitors and their innovative products and services.
Nearly half of Middle Easter banks declare modern cloud-based systems to be their top priority for operational transformation, with almost all banks surveyed planning to modernise and upgrade their legacy IT systems to help drive their transformational strategy forward.
Two thirds of banks in the Middle East cite past failures with digital investments as the biggest barrier to their organisation’s digital transformation efforts; 42% of banks believe their organisation isn’t investing enough in digital innovation efforts to keep pace with the offerings of digital-first challengers.
For a third of Middle Eastern banks, growing revenue from new products and services is their main priority when it comes to their digital business transformation.
Roughly a sixth of Middle East banks say the ability to fight threat posed by new market entrants (e.g., Google, Apple Amazon) is a top three transformation priority.
In addition, the top three drivers behind the need for digital transformation was competition from direct competitors, digital first challengers/fintechs, and consumer tech companies, due to their innovative business models.
One in five banks believe they are behind their competitors in their current approach to Digital Business Transformation, Publicis Sapient noted.
Banks in the Middle East (42%) are increasingly prioritising being able to offer new services and products to help advance their customer experience transformation.
Interestingly, advanced branding and marketing is a top priority for 38% of banks. Not classified as a priority for other major regions, some 28% of banks in the Middle East regard personalised, multichannel, interactive marketing as most critical to a digitally innovative bank.
Some 42% of banks in the region are investing in developing new talent as an operational priority as opposed to existing talent (24%).
Over a quarter of banks also believe that replacing traditional banking skill sets with new digital skills is the most critical to a digitally innovative bank.
Though two thirds of banks feel under pressure to improve their ESG credentials: Nearly seven in ten banks provide ESG employee training, followed by six in ten who provide guidance on ESG risks, Publicis Sapient’s study reveals.
Almost all the Middle Eastern banks surveyed by the digital consulting company believe the increasing demand and level of customers’ use of digital channels during the pandemic will continue over the next 12 months.
Banks in the Middle East are also increasingly prioritising offering new services and products to advance their customer experience transformation, once again driven by increasing competition from direct competitors and their innovative products and services.
Nearly half of Middle Easter banks declare modern cloud-based systems to be their top priority for operational transformation, with almost all banks surveyed planning to modernise and upgrade their legacy IT systems to help drive their transformational strategy forward.
Two thirds of banks in the Middle East cite past failures with digital investments as the biggest barrier to their organisation’s digital transformation efforts; 42% of banks believe their organisation isn’t investing enough in digital innovation efforts to keep pace with the offerings of digital-first challengers.
For a third of Middle Eastern banks, growing revenue from new products and services is their main priority when it comes to their digital business transformation.
Roughly a sixth of Middle East banks say the ability to fight threat posed by new market entrants (e.g., Google, Apple Amazon) is a top three transformation priority.
In addition, the top three drivers behind the need for digital transformation was competition from direct competitors, digital first challengers/fintechs, and consumer tech companies, due to their innovative business models.
One in five banks believe they are behind their competitors in their current approach to Digital Business Transformation, Publicis Sapient noted.
Banks in the Middle East (42%) are increasingly prioritising being able to offer new services and products to help advance their customer experience transformation.
Interestingly, advanced branding and marketing is a top priority for 38% of banks. Not classified as a priority for other major regions, some 28% of banks in the Middle East regard personalised, multichannel, interactive marketing as most critical to a digitally innovative bank.
Some 42% of banks in the region are investing in developing new talent as an operational priority as opposed to existing talent (24%).
Over a quarter of banks also believe that replacing traditional banking skill sets with new digital skills is the most critical to a digitally innovative bank.
Though two thirds of banks feel under pressure to improve their ESG credentials: Nearly seven in ten banks provide ESG employee training, followed by six in ten who provide guidance on ESG risks, Publicis Sapient’s study reveals.
