Banks jointly explore new driving forces for transformation in 2021: large banks are preparing for qualitative changes while small banks are bridging the digital divide

In 2021, my country's "14th Five-Year Plan" began, and the digital economy flourished. The banking industry kept pace with the overall national development, made every effort to promote the in-depth development of digital transformation, explore new momentum for the industry, actively participate in the construction of the digital ecosystem in the whole society, and contribute financial strength to the high-quality development of Digital China.

On November 25, the "2021 Bank Digital Momentum and Financial Innovation Summit and the 17th Annual Ceremony of the Promotion Year" co-organized by the China Financial Certification Center (CFCA) and more than 100 member banks was presented for the first time in the form of an online live broadcast in the cloud. Many experts from academia and industry gave thematic presentations on the theme of "New Momentum for Digital Transformation", bringing a feast of ideas to the audience.

Zhao Yu, Assistant General Manager of China Financial Certification Authority (CFCA)

Looking back at the digital transformation of banks, there are endless new trends and opportunities, as well as new problems and challenges. In this regard, Zhao Yu, assistant general manager of the China Financial Certification Center (CFCA), believes that banks should first adhere to the bottom line of compliance in digital transformation, clarify compliance requirements, and ensure that financial innovation is steady and long-term; secondly, they must adhere to innovation-driven development, actively promote the integration of upstream and downstream resources and complementary advantages of the industrial chain, and promote the healthy development of the digital financial ecosystem.

How can banks find the most suitable strategy in digital transformation?

At present, there are more than 4,000 banking institutions in China, with their operating characteristics and development paths varying greatly. Therefore, different banks need to match different digital transformation paths. At this summit, experts and scholars and bank executives discussed the route selection for bank digital transformation from the perspectives of theoretical research and work practice.

Luo Aihua, deputy general manager of the Internet Finance Department of the Agricultural Bank of China, pointed out that the online migration of the Agricultural Bank of China's business has been basically completed, and the retail online diversion rate has exceeded 97%. In the future, the Agricultural Bank of China will gradually transform to a new stage of "MAU+AUM" dual-wheel drive and traffic value. At the same time, Luo Aihua said that platform construction is the first step in online operations, and the focus is on starting from user needs and continuously promoting functional integration and service innovation from the user's perspective.

Gao Bo, general manager of Hua Xia Bank's Personal Business Department and Wealth Management and Private Banking Department, believes that retail transformation has become the main theme of banking development, and digital transformation will ignite a new engine for bank performance growth. Specifically, it is necessary to promote the transformation of customer management from traditional models to digital models in five aspects: "marketing methods, operating mechanisms, product development, customer acquisition models, and contact strategies."

Compared with the rapid progress of large banks in digital transformation, how regional small and medium-sized banks can improve their data application capabilities and cross the digital divide is also an issue that needs to be addressed urgently. Ouyang Rihui, deputy dean and professor of the China Internet Economy Research Institute of the Central University of Finance and Economics, frankly admitted that small and medium-sized banks currently generally have "digital transformation anxiety": they are very anxious to digitize, but don't know how to do it specifically. He believes that small and medium-sized banks need to pay attention to five tasks - do a good job in top-level design, dual-wheel drive of data and technology, coordinated development of business and technology, build a financial ecosystem, and pay attention to digital financial talents.

Wang Haitao, general manager of the Internet Finance Department of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, believes that digital transformation is urgent. Small and medium-sized banks cannot wait until the infrastructure is improved before catching up with the industry trend. They should make full use of existing data and technological capabilities to carry out transformation practices. Combining the experience of Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, Wang Haitao pointed out that small and medium-sized banks should build and implement a data "construction, management, and use" operation system with the goal of "accurate insight, collaborative sharing, and decompression and empowerment."

How to build the bank’s “digital” competitiveness through mobile banking?

In the process of digital transformation of banks, the status and role of mobile banking are becoming more and more prominent. Many guests at this summit shared their experiences on the development of mobile banking from multiple perspectives of macro theory and business practice.

Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of CMB Financial and part-time researcher of Fudan University's Institute of Finance, believes that the four types of implicit value of mobile banking should be further examined and explored, including bank brand value, leading transformation value, customer management value, and architecture innovation value. On this basis, Dong Ximiao put forward three suggestions for the development of mobile banking business: establish a dedicated operation team, stimulate active users, and improve user experience.

ICBC Mobile Banking celebrates its 10th anniversary. ICBC Mobile Banking Version 7.0 was recently released. Zhao Lei, Deputy General Manager of the Internet Finance Department of ICBC, shared his thoughts on the development of mobile banking. Zhao Lei believes that we must first adhere to the platform management thinking, promote the "people + digitalization" collaboration of financial services, guide intelligent operations with the concept of "full journey + full search engine", and guide digital marketing with the concept of "marketing first, then product". Focusing on future development, we should increase the research and tracking of new technologies, strengthen forward-looking layout, and continuously innovate and incubate digital financial application models.

Guan Tiejun, General Manager of the Internet Finance Department of China Guangfa Bank, also shared his experience in digital transformation in conjunction with the bank's newly released annual versions of "Mobile Banking 7.0" and "Cloud Store 2.0". Guan Tiejun pointed out that the smart dual cores of mobile banking and cloud stores have carried the mission of digitalization of customer service operations and transformation and development. The goal is to create value with customers at the center, use technology to enable the activation of front-line business potential, build "digital intelligence" capabilities in practice, and drive the digital transformation of the entire bank.

Keeping pace with the times and looking to the future, the "Digital Finance Joint Promotion Year" is launched with a new look

The "China Electronic Banking Joint Promotion Year" has been in existence for nearly 17 years since its inception in 2004. Currently, concepts such as "digital finance" have gradually become mainstream. In order to stay close to the industry and keep pace with the times, the "China Electronic Banking Joint Promotion Year" has been officially renamed the "Digital Finance Joint Promotion Year".

Leaders of member banks send messages to promote the annual name change

The "2021 China Digital Finance Survey Report" (click the link to download the full report) initiated by CFCA and hundreds of member banks was also released at this summit. The number of banks participating in the survey this year has increased to 96, covering three major areas: retail digital finance, corporate digital finance, and digital finance hotspots. In addition, a number of innovative contents have been added, including research on behavioral insights into the elderly and lower-tier users.

The "2021 China Digital Finance Gold List Award" list, selected based on digital finance survey data, was also released. More than 100 banks competed from the perspectives of security, innovation, experience, etc., and finally produced 22 major awards.

The 2021 Innovative Innovation "Grand Competition" Financial Scenario Adaptation and Verification Track Special Award Ceremony was also held at the meeting. A total of six special awards were presented to commend outstanding participating teams in the 2021 Innovative Innovation "Grand Competition" Financial Track.

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