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Homepage / Publications & Opinion / Archive / Daily Telegraph: Harddrive Banking beyond the museum ON a visit to a living museum recently, I stepped into a reconstructed Victorian Bank. In the gloom of dark stained wood were a huge metal safe, ledgers, scales, coinage, and the manager in starched collar. It all had that fossilised stability I remember from my childhood, and I began to reflect on the rate of change. I cannot remember the last time I saw anyone depositing a blue bag in a night safe, or having coins weighed, but I presume it still happens. But then, like many people, I seldom visit banks: telephone banking and cash machines have become my lifeline. The embodiment of change is perhaps exemplified by the acceleration of business as coins, paper and cheques have been sidelined by plastic, and soon, electronic cash. Since the introduction of plastic we have reached a point where Money = Information = Bits. So there is a direct analogy with the blue bag and the night safe. Businesses are at risk because their data is at risk. A stolen PC, fire damage, or disk crash can debilitate a business if the data is not backed up. So perhaps we need data banking in the broader sense. Many people are working harder under increasing competition driven by technological change. There is no time for decorating, gardening or car cleaning. Curiously, they often pay more attention to their company accounts than to their domestic situation. An effective solution is to outsource all personal finance management with provisions for pension, and insurance for the unforeseen. We are moving toward a more complex world of a rapidly changing fortunes, job changing, and for most, several employers. Thirty years ago a professional might have expected to work for three employers in a lifetime. Today it is more than 7, and in 20 years it will be more than 25. Managing the tax, pension, insurance and stability of such a life could be a nightmare without electronic outsourcing. Looking around for a contemporary example I found a young woman who graduated, worked for 18 months in a major company, and went freelance. Her current, and multiple simultaneous employers, will total 35 by year end. Who should she turn to for assistance? She needs a bank with all the data and expertise to hand so this growing problem can be reduced to a software package. She needs real time business management as much as a company. The addition of video conferencing, iris scanning customer identification and verification to the modest cash machines of today could see them become virtual banks. And this technology could be extended direct into the home and office PC or laptop. No doubt bank branches will survive, but their nature can be expected to change dramatically, with more terminals than staff. Any form of computer terminal, electronic kiosk or online organiser will potentially provide access to the many functions and services that necessitate a visit to a bank. What then will be the nature and skills of future bankers? Without a doubt they will have to be IT-capable and specialised in particular market sectors. Teams of advisers, experts and mentors online will be necessary to deal with an increasingly sophisticated customer base living faster and more complex lives. Peter Cochrane holds the Collier Chair for the Public Understanding of Science & Technology at the University of Bristol. His home page is: |
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