Every year Celent gathers its analysts across the globe to summarize the top trends in banking for the major geographies: Asia, Europe, and North America. We synthesize key trends in each geography, gleaned from bankers and vendors, clients and nonclients, and regulators and central bankers. We see banks now making offensive, rather than defensive, moves, looking for ways to grow their business.

The practice of banking became fundamentally more difficult during and after the global financial crisis of 2009. Banks in all geographies experienced the fallout of a challenging economy that has only begun to improve. Banks are also subjected to increased public and regulatory scrutiny as a result of the recent near-collapse of the financial system. In last year’s report, Celent found a triumvirate of global priorities:

• Managing risk
• Reducing costs
• Improving multichannel delivery

In this report, Top Trends in Corporate Banking 2011, Celent’s crystal ball shows many banks going back to making offensive moves. The corporate side of the bank suffered less during the crisis than the retail side, especially transaction services and cash management. Asia did not suffer as badly as other regions during the crisis, and momentum there only strengthens.

• Multichannel remains on the top three list from mobile cash management to user experience in Internet banking.
• Payments are moving to the fore. Cash management is a fee-generating business that has withstood the crisis. Banks are investing heavily across the globe in this area.

"While there are many initiatives in corporate banking across the globe, some themes recur. Banks are investing in fee-generating businesses such as global transaction services and the payments infrastructure to support this.” stated Bart Narter, author of the report and Senior Vice President of the Banking Group at Celent. “They are also investing in channels such as remote deposit capture, mobile, and Internet corporate banking to link corporate customers closer to the bank.”