Article

By Martin Hartley, Managing Director

The future of finance blog

It was in ancient times when banking and finance were first established; currencies were coins, jewels, and other valuables hidden in temples and heavily guarded buildings allowing people to accumulate wealth or trade commodities for power or favours. Fast forward to today and online banking has both strengthened the connection between countries’ economies and accelerated the speed at which global trade is now undertaken.

It is an evolution that is never likely to slow given the rapid advancements and enhancements in technology. The question is, can the finance sector keep pace with its tech bedfellow?

To summarise in a single word – automation.

The rise and conquer of automation

Automation is not a new concept by any stretch. eTrading has been automated since computers were first available. Markets for simple products like FX and equities are now completely automated, and the effort is increasingly focussed on algorithms to identify and execute trade opportunities and manage positions without publishing intentions to the wider market.

Fixed income markets are in the midst of automation, and any manual intervention in the trade flow will erode or even remove profit margins. So, the time and cost efficiency of automation which comes with a very small window for error will continue to be expanded across more and more finance functions until almost everything is automated.

But automation can only be effective with close collaboration between technology, trading businesses, and the highly specialised teams managing it. As such, the specialist tech workforce can’t afford to simply keep up with changing demands and processes - it needs to be one or two steps ahead of the curve.

Automation can only be effective with close collaboration between technology, trading businesses, and the highly specialised teams managing it

Overseas investment

The result of rapidly developing tech has been the acceleration of globalisation. Today’s interconnected economies mean overseas investment is a highly attractive and viable business route than previously.

The result is that financial services’ middle and back-office functions are out-sourcing more functionality and requirements to organisations with technology teams overseas in countries such as India because they represent a cost reduction in doing business without any obvious way to differentiate to clients. However, banks see Front Office technology as vital, so aim to keep as much of this development in-house and onshore.

Imagine trying to skill up and secure and deploy a team of 35-40 in London within a month?

Nearshoring

As costs tighten the finance and tech sector should expect to see a rise in banks and financial services firms utilising nearshore services.

Nearshore outsourcing is the implementation of services in a neighbouring country.

In the UK’s case, it would be a close-by European country that offers unrivalled English-speaking skills, speed and agility, cost-efficiency, and a culture and work ethic that feeds well into the high standards and expectations of our finance and banking sector.

Nearshoring is unparalleled when compared to staying onshore - imagine trying to skill up and secure and deploy a team of 35-40 in London within a month?

Even with the best will in the world, it’d be a near-impossible task in the current employment market. Not to mention the eye-watering costs. emagine’s specialist nearshore teams have thousands of consultants working on client projects every day, with ramp-up time circa. 45 days, and ramp-down as little as 30 days.

But it isn’t just a matter of training up the teams, farming out the work, and sitting back to reap the benefits. Yes, it can be cost-effective, but it takes careful management and integration, and training and development, with strict protocols to ensure the levels of security and safety required for the finance sector.

These trends are becoming less nice to haves and more the norm. In the next 10 years, banking and financial services will continue to be shaped significantly by technological advances – and so the workforce too will be seeing a shift in operations and practices if it’s to keep up.

Our opinion

Other pieces

See all

Doug Collyer in London's financial district

Insights

The Nordic way of working: how does it help emagine consultants optimise their clients’ operations and boost profits?

emagine’s Nordic way of working embraces different perspectives and approaches to solve challenges and power progress among our consultants. Learn how our experts and Nordic work style can optimise our client’s operations and profitability.

Composiute illustration of stock graphs and a innovative light bulb

Insights

The role of artificial intelligence is transforming the banking industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the banking industry by transforming the way banks operate, how they interact with their customers, and the way decisions are influenced. A key benefit that is often talked about is the noteworthy cost savings leveraged by AI tools, but what are the others?

Modern business environment with a man and woman in front of window facing a city

Insights

The Science Behind Hiring the top 10%

As a business and technology consulting firm, we live of our ability to recruit the very top talent for our business. In this piece, I would like to share our thoughts behind the approach we on emagine UK. We call it: The science behind hiring the top 10%.

Illustration with the words: People hate change, so how do you best implement it?

Insights

Change management: how do you best implement it?

Managing change – how do you do it? Bringing in new technology, individuals, or new teams to work on a key project can feel like a threat to existing staff – but it doesn’t have to be that way if you manage change positively. Read how.

Insights

Implementing a Nearshore team that works for you

It might surprise you that emagine is Poland’s second most prominent provider of Nearshore outsourcing services. We’ve learned a lot from growing our operations and development teams. Understand how you can get a head start with your nearshoring-strategy.

Insights

What will 2023 look like? Diversification, globalization and automation

What might 2023 hold for the finance industry in terms of consulting, IT and technology? We believe diversification, globalization and automation are three hot topics.

Insights

The future of finance blog

In the next 10 years, technological advances will shape banking and financial services significantly. The workforce, too, will need a shift in operations and practices if it’s to keep up.

Insights

The secret to attracting and retaining elite teams

By Martin Hartley, Managing Director.
People should always come first. And making a difference to people’s lives should no longer be a ‘nice to have’, it is an organisational imperative.

Insights

Business resilience in the face of uncertainty

By Martin Hartley, Managing Director.
How business leaders and firms responded to the crises gave us insight into the true resilience of the sector and how some, large and small, came out the other end as winners or losers.

Insights

Moving on up: New branding to take us to the next level

By Martin Hartley, Managing Director
And now we’re moving into our next stage of growth, joining the top table whilst maintaining added value, high levels of service, and ensuring that senior managers stay with the project to see it through, unlike many of our bigger competitors.

Insights

The Case for Disparity in Leadership Teams

By Martin Hartley, Managing Director
The days of partiality in leadership have, for the most part, passed, and organisations are increasingly seeing the value of having a more diverse make-up of teams which offer variety of thought.