The financial services industry is being shaped by pressures that impact firms’ ability to deliver strong, sustainable performance.
New competitors and disruptive technologies are poised to have an effect on everything from how payments are processed, to how loans are secured, to clearing and settlement infrastructures. Cyber threats continue to worsen each year with no end in sight. Cloud technology promises to unlock new value if migration, security, and workforce challenges can be addressed. And, after sticking their “toes in the water,” leading edge firms will begin to extract value from their “Big Data” investments. Compounding many of these pressures are increasing expectations from regulators, resulting in spiraling costs and new restrictions across almost every facet of their business.
“With compliance spending at an all-time high, many frustrated financial services firms have declared that this is the year that the growth in this spend must stop,” said David Kletter, Executive Vice President at Booz Allen and leader of the firm’s financial services business. “The solutions of yesterday have proven inadequate to today’s challenges. The successful firms will use innovative analytics and technology to drive down regulatory and other costs and increase competitive advantage. The mindset in 2016 will be increasingly about efficiency, instead of continuing to throw more money and labor at the problem.”