Our first webinar discussed the pace of digitisation in financial services and opportunities for fintechs as the sector grapples with the fallout from COVID-19. A European perspective was provided by Jan Ceyssens of the EU Commission, followed by panel session with Michael Concannon, FPAI; Kevin O’Neill, Fenergo; and Ruth McCarthy, Fexco.
 

In our second webinar of the series, we discussed how banks are being fundamentally challenged to keep up in today’s increasingly digitally-focused market, and how the drive to provide new reimagined products and insight-driven experiences will only accelerate. David Conway, Partner Lead for Customer & Marketing at Deloitte, explored the rise of the challenger banks who are rapidly gaining traction, unencumbered by the constraints of legacy business models and core systems, and how the established high street banks are fighting back. This was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by David Dalton, Head of Financial Services at Deloitte, which included Revolut CEO, Joe Heneghan, and Head of Innovation at Leveris, Conor McAleavey.
 

The COVID-19 crisis has greatly accelerated the pace of change in payment behaviours that had already started several years ago. During the crisis the use of cash plummeted, contactless payments rocketed, and high street commerce collapsed while online flourished. Much of this change will be short-lived and revert as the crisis lifts, but much will not. In our penultimate webinar of the series, Gill Murphy, Head of Payment Schemes shared her thoughts on the new world of payments, followed by a panel discussion with Gary Conroy, TransferMate, Sam Hinton-Smith, Stripe, and Matt Ryan, Deloitte.
 

In the final webinar of the series, we discussed the banking environment as it looks set to accelerate into a period of unprecedented financial, technological and structural change. The keynote address was delivered by Margaret Doyle, Partner and Chief Insights Officer, Financial Services, Deloitte UK. A panel discussion also took place, moderated by Sean Smith, Partner – Regulatory Risk, and Banking Lead at Deloitte Ireland, with banking industry experts John O’Beirne, Director of Products, Bank of Ireland, and Diarmaid Sheridan, Senior Bank Analyst, Davy.