Ex-Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins has criticized banks as “museums of technology,” claiming they have not fully embraced genuine digital transformation and are losing substantial numbers of customers to more agile, tech-focused competitors.
Speaking on the release of research involving 150 senior decision-makers and over 150 product managers, business analysts, and project managers across eight markets, Jenkins highlighted alarming trends in customer retention. The study revealed that one in eight banking leaders (12%) reported losing 30-40% of their customers due to poor customer experience, with overall customer attrition rates averaging 20%.
Jenkins emphasized, “Throughout my career, I have learned that banking is fundamentally about customers. Unfortunately, most of the banking industry has overlooked this fact, adopting a product-focused approach instead of prioritizing the customer.”
Furthermore, two-thirds (64%) of senior bank decision-makers acknowledged that their sluggish pace of digital transformation has led to missed opportunities for attracting new customers. Jenkins noted, “Banks often confuse transformation with innovation. Innovation tends to be a series of incremental improvements, while true transformation requires significant, non-linear changes that start with enhancing customer experience. Many banks mistakenly believe that launching an app or going digital represents real transformation, yet very few are genuinely changing their core operations.”
He described banks as repositories of outdated technology, with aging software and hardware approaching obsolescence. Jenkins stressed the importance of prioritizing digital transformation to maintain relevance and competitiveness.
This pressing need for change is further underscored by the impact on banks’ profitability and the current economic instability within the industry, prompting three-quarters of the surveyed banks to seek accelerated digital transformation efforts this year. Jenkins concluded, “The industry is on the verge of needing radical transformation to remain relevant to its customers.”