Industrialisation in banking

Since the financial crisis, the Swiss Banking industry has been under tremendous pressure. An unfavourable economic climate, rising expectations of empowered customers, increased regulatory focus and intense on- and offshore competition have reduced the revenue margins as a percentage of assets under management of Swiss banks by 21 per cent between 2010 and 2015. Combined with the emergence of fintech entrants and disruptive technologies, these trends are creating an urgent need for innovation and cost reduction.

Many banks have limited themselves to taking only tactical cost reduction measures. We believe it is now time to improve agility and efficiency by industrialising how banks operate. The objective of industrialisation is to eliminate redundancies, re-engineer the value chain, automate and standardise processes wherever possible, while providing transparency about the profit of activities.

Deloitte, in collaboration with the Hochschule Luzern, Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen (IFZ), has conducted an online survey and personal interviews with executives from Swiss banks on their current levels of industrialisation and their industrialisation strategies for the next five years.

The report suggests how an industrialisation strategy can be used by banks to increase efficiency and agility.