How the Pandemic led to a Digital Banking Boom

Although digital banking offers greater convenience for customers, better rates and at times free overseas transactions, there has been a slow, steady progression by customers over the years, until the realities of the pandemic set-in and shelter-in-place policies became mandatory. Now the industry has seen a swift uptick in demand. With our twin-islands experiencing community spread of over 4,000 cases locally and over 33 million infected globally, COVID-19’s impact on the digital banking industry will surely last for decades.

Navigating unchartered waters in these days of the coronavirus pandemic will see customers, banks and regulators requiring to maintain cash and liquidity while re-adjusting operations and government support measures. Even those banks that were ahead of the game in digital banking services, like Republic Bank and many others, will have to re-think and re-organise in order to adapt to the new normal. Resources will have to be placed on assisting virtually through enhanced access to e-brochures, call-in help lines and virtual tutorials, along with engineering support and enhanced online security systems.

Goldman Sachs Group executive Harit Talwar told Bloomberg that “more than a quarter of customers don’t plan to return to branch offices even after it is safe to do so.”

In Trinidad and Tobago, e-commerce transactions have increased significantly. Similarly, in the US up to 40 million shoppers went online for groceries in April, while the UK saw a surge in customers with digital-only bank accounts grow by 165% in just 12 months. According to Finder, an estimated 11.2 million new accounts will be opened by 2025, which means that 23.3 million UK citizens will have digital-only bank accounts by 2025.

Banks have underscored the convenience and enhanced efficiency that online banking brings, and while millennials have embraced online banking, senior citizens have been reticent. Now the steep increase has definitely created unforeseen scenarios. With branches in Trinidad and Tobago having experienced stringent operating procedures, a decrease in branch working hours and full-on closures for sanitization and cleaning operations, there have also been some permanent closures regionally and worldwide. JP Chase closed 20% of its branches in March, with remaining branches offering drive-through and ATM service with in-branch glass separating customers and staff. This raises the inevitable question: will there be many or any brick-and-mortar branches in ten or twenty years?

Tech giants are now entering the market with Google about to launch the Google Pay card that offers a virtual payment card and a physical one linked to the Google Pay app. Banks like Lloyds are ready to come on board with Google Cloud. Microsoft, not one to be left behind, has announced a partnership with fintech Plaid to introduce a feature that allows Microsoft 365 users to analyse and track spending via Excel.

Pandemics have undoubtedly brought challenges over the centuries, but they have also advanced innovation. With RepublicOnline we are ready to meet the challenges, offering a suite of convenient and secure online customer services that continue to be adapted to meet your changing needs as we navigate the new normal together.