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2015 Banking Outlook

Boosting profitability amidst new challenges

The 2015 Banking Outlook, produced by the Deloitte Center for Financial Services, provides an analysis of industry priorities and anticipated trends based on interviews with our leading banking practitioners to predict what's coming in 2015.

In a lot of ways, banks may liken the past six years to a turbulent ride on a small aircraft. As we move into 2015, firms may finally be at the point of boosting profitability – taking off for a less bumpy ride. That’s not to say challenges aren’t ahead, but rather a new flight plan is in store.

The outlook, produced by the Deloitte Center for Financial Services, provides an analysis of industry priorities and anticipated trends based on interviews with our leading banking practitioners to predict what's coming in 2015.

The U.S. banking industry is entering a new phase in its post-crisis journey, with a much sharper focus on boosting profitability. In this outlook, we highlight seven areas that banks will need to give their full attention, ranging from balance sheet efficiency to cyber security.

See below for a high-level overview of the seven trends and key priorities for the banking industry:

·         Balance sheet efficiency: Amidst a deluge of regulatory and market forces, achieving balance sheet efficiencies in 2015 will be both critical and challenging for banks.

·         M&A: Although strategic options will vary considerably by size and balance sheet position of each bank, the M&A market will continue to improve in 2015.

·         Growth: Growth will be a universal priority in 2015, yet strategies will vary by bank size and business line.

·         Payments transformation: This year will be an evolutionary year as growth in contactless payments contributes to banks' role in the payments network while cutting further into interchange revenue and brand recognition.

·         Compliance and risk management: Meeting regulatory expectations will require management to extend its focus from improving specific processes to fully integrating risk management, compliance, and ethics into banks’ culture.

·         Data management: As the data and analytics function within banks evolves, institutions should be shifting toward a proactive stance to ward off further regulatory pressure.

·         Cyber security: To improve cyber security in 2015, banks will be forced to devote greater resources to enhancing the security, vigilance, and resilience of their cyber security model.

2015 Banking Outlook
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