Money20/20 USA took place in Las Vegas during October 2021. With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the event, during the show, The Fintech Times caught up with a number of companies to discuss key topics from the conference and the wider fintech industry.
In this video interview, live from Money2020 in Las Vegas, Margaret Weichert, MD, NA Payments Lead at Accenture discusses the key issues facing banks and the disruption that they’re seeing, as well as what the company has learned from its clients.
As the global financial system prepares for the next phase of commerce, it is becoming clearer that banks must prepare for a new future that includes mobile consumers, new threats and risks and the rise of cryptocurrency. However, Accenture is there to provide the necessary support and act as a guide during this fundamental change.
Firstly, when it comes to crypto, a recent study from Accenture found that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC’s) arose as the top crypto-related disruptor, beating the adoption of crypto as a disruptor itself. 39% of banks globally and 45% in the US see CBDCs a major disruptive force to the industry.
“Our view is that this is something we need to prepare for,” said Weichert. “We won’t know the actual perfect future of how it will all evolve, but we encourage banks to get involved and start learning about how to deal with crypto as an asset class and deal with CBDC’s as a form of payment.”
Next, in the area of risk mitigation, Weichert shared her view on the security and threat mitigation solutions needed as we enter the next phase of commerce. She believes it’s essential for banks to be one step ahead of the bad actors by taking steps to bolster identity protection and build trust with customers.
“We believe that there are plenty of things that banks need to consider and this space is always evolving.”
Finally, she discussed some of the key drivers of disruption within the industry, both now and in the future for legacy payment providers.
Weichert said: “The top factor driving disruption for North America banking respondents was a change in customer expectations. The major shift that took place during the pandemic in terms of how people shop and the expectations they have for seamless experiences are so now ingrained that that is the baseline that customers expect.
To learn more about this, watch the full interview now.
