Last week Swift closed the door on a successful Sibos 2023. With a stated registration of some 9,000 people, the event had the participation and energy of traditional Sibos conferences. As mentioned in Sibos 2023: the World of Banking Gathers in Toronto (again)! Sibos is an opportunity to meet and hear from the industry’s most senior leaders. During the week I met with business and technology executives from banks in every region: from South Africa to Japan, from Canada to Denmark.
Of course, there were many conversations (and presentations) around the topics du jour. ISO 20022 migrations, API-enabled ecosystems, digital currencies, and opportunities for generative AI. My Celent colleagues, Patricia Hines, Gareth Lodge and Ian Watson will no doubt share their own perspectives.
What struck me in conversations was the number of banks newly embarking on major digital transformations. Not just for payments (as usually anticipated at Sibos), but also revamping corporate banking digital experiences, overhauling the onboarding process, and simplifying operational processes (especially offshore) with higher levels of automation. These initiatives correlate closely to the results of Celent’s Technology Insights and Strategy Survey, as published in Corporate Banking Global IT Priorities in 2023: Customer-first Strategies to Survive and Thrive.
Related to all the above is the challenge of defining and unlocking data value from ISO 20022. Even for countries that have embraced this data structure for new national payments systems (as many Asian countries have), integrating the first and last miles to and from corporate client ERP systems remains challenging. Several banks spoke of the demand now coming from corporate clients for ISO 20022 integration of cash management reporting. As banks modernize data pipelines to be ISO compliant, they also have an opportunity to deliver more client value.
Sibos 2024 is in Beijing. October 2024 sounds a long way off, but with today’s geopolitical climate and unenviable logistical challenges, it’s never too early to start planning!
