8 •
The Lion King
• October - December 2015
2016: THE 16 THINGS TO
EXPECT IN DIGITAL BANKING
By Kemi Fashina
2016 is here and going by the advancements we have seen in the digital banking space in 2015, we
should expect an interesting year. Let’s take a look at 16 things we expect (you might even say predict) to
see in digital banking this year.
The year of the mobile
It is projected that by 2017, the
number of mobile phone users
worldwide would have reached 4.7bil-
lion. Note that this figure only rep-
resents mobile phones and if other
mobile devices such as tablets are
considered, the number goes up.
In 2016, more banking transactions
will be driven via mobile. As mobile
transactions increase, branch visits will
naturally decline. Being a mobile bank
will therefore be a must, not a maybe.
Chat rooms become
banking halls
Social media is helping banks
to redefine their relationship with cus-
tomers. With the introduction of social
banking platforms such as U-Social,
chat rooms have become banking
halls. We will see more banks extend
their services to social media platforms
in 2016.
You’ve got mail and it’s
money inside!
Whoever thought emails were
just meant for exchanging messages
is in for a shocker. In 2016, email boxes
would become banking halls, where
money can be sent and requested.
Sounds like a mirage? Just wait a
couple of months.
You will be invisible
If you are one of those people
who love to cuddle their debit
cards, you risk being extinct in 2016.
No jokes. Ok, while you would still
need to pay with your card, you may
not need to carry it around like a new
born. With the introduction of virtual
cards, no one needs to see you or
your card.
POS is the new ATM
Even if this sounds implausible, it
is definitely going to be one of
the 2016 surprises. The POS will no lon-
ger be just that machine you slot your
card into (or hold your card against
if you are already on the contactless
move with UBA) for payments, but will
also serve as a cash receipt point.
No touch payments take over
There is no gainsaying the fact that there will be more payment
options in 2016. It also goes without saying that payment tech-
nologies will continue to evolve. UBA introduced the first set of con-
tactless cards in the last quarter of 2015 and we expect to see more
innovations around contactless payments.
1
2
4
5
6
3
