Fintech
BCBS: Banking digitalisation poses new risks and calls for action
It has long been believed that big technologies in the financial sector can drive digital transformation and foster a new era of innovation.
Between 2019 and 2023 alone, investment in fintech companies – providers of emerging technologies – totaled a staggering $865 billion, more than double the levels of investment seen between 2013 and 2018.
However, innovations lead to the creation of new vulnerabilities and the amplification of existing risks.
So, as banks rush to integrate the latest innovations, the question remains: Do the benefits of digitalization outweigh the risks?
Perhaps not for the Basel Committee on Banking Product Supervision (BCBS), the global regulatory committee that agrees on standards for bank capital, funding and liquidity, which said that continued innovation in banking has opened up the path to strategic, reputational, operational and data management strategies. risks.
Growing risk in the banking sector
The risks outlined by the BCBS concern the growth of cloud computing – where core banking services are supported by cloud technologies provided by third parties – the rise of artificial intelligencethe use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and the proliferation of open banking system.
While these innovations enable the banking sector to deliver previously unseen levels of customer experience, for the BCBS these technologies could test banks’ operational resilience and system-wide risks as a result of increased connections between banks and fintechs.