As digitization continues to transform financial services—with increasing expectations for better, more integrated experiences—BCG helps global and regional institutions build for the future, using digital innovations to drive fundamental change. Banks must transform into bionic organizations that serve customers in ways the financial world has barely begun to envision.
Despite margin pressure, financial institutions are being challenged to do more for customers and clients in every segment. Whether the goal is to meet new expectations by integrating environmental, social, and governance considerations into financial services strategy or to set a new vision for the digital future, BCG helps financial institutions make the transformative moves necessary to meet today’s challenges—and prepare for tomorrow’s.
BCG’s work in the financial services industry—nearly 4,000 engagements over the past five years—has deepened our financial sector know-how and solidified our predictions for what comes next, allowing us to develop advanced sector models, benchmarks, proprietary databases, and tools for meeting strategic challenges across all segments.
Applying our core capabilities in business strategy, value creation, customer journeys, sustainability, M&A, post-merger integration, emerging markets, and innovation strategy, we’ve undertaken both highly targeted and large-scale, end-to-end business transformation in financial institutions. Our big plays in digital include improving personalization, deepening analytics, advancing technology in operations, increasing efficiency, and mitigating risk. Examples include:
Managing Director & Senior Partner
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Operating-Model Transformation
For a global bank with more than 300,000 staff, we defined a new target business model based on customer economics, then redesigned the bank’s operating model, including channels, products, services, and organization structure. The transformation put the bank’s cost-to-income ratio on track to fall from 54% to 48%, and its cost baseline to fall by 10%, with $1 billion in savings delivered after one year.
End-to-End Digital Bank
For an incumbent bank struggling to compete for new customers, we accelerated the transformation of its digital capabilities and helped build a state-of-the-art digital bank informed by our market research. This project leveraged InQbate by BCG to design a compelling user experience, orchestrate operational processes, and engineer a full technology stack in only ten weeks.
Enhanced Customer Experience
We partnered with a global payment card issuer to overcome technology platform constraints that were hindering its competitiveness. In a radical system transformation over five years, we created a new architecture, fully leveraging big data and advanced analytics to offer a cutting-edge customer experience. The transformation delivered recurring top-line impact, with up to $500 million of additional risk-adjusted revenue in year one.
Elevated Business Standards
When a global investment bank needed to respond to allegations of securities fraud, BCG supported an eight-month, board-sponsored review of business standards, including deep discovery on all business practices across all geographies. Our work produced 39 public recommendations, including new disclosure and origination standards, product documentation, and reporting lines; an updated code of conduct; improved governance; and stronger performance evaluation and training.
The pandemic has accelerated the inevitable; the AI revolution is overtaking banking as we knew it. Banks that don’t transform stand to lose market share to nimbler tech players.
Leading banks are already organizing solution delivery according to customer value streams and taking customer engagement to the next level.
BCG’s approach delivers greater efficiency, an improved customer experience, and a more engaged workforce, enabling banks to meet today’s challenges.
For now, corporate sustainability spending may be curtailed. But investors believe that in the long run, ESG will remain a powerful driver of portfolio performance.
Financial institutions can help close the race-based wealth gap, including greater access to credit and capital.
Agile continues to deliver extraordinary benefits: in just three months, a team delivered a complex, high-profile product that normally would have taken a year.
