【英语财经】研究：传统银行必须适应手机银行时代 Banks told to ‘adapt or die’ as mobile use rises

Banks must “adapt or die” in the digital world to meet the surging demand for mobile phone banking with the number of such customers set to jump to more than a quarter of the world’s population, a new study has warned.

Mobile banking usage is expected to more than double over the next four years, from 800m people to 1.8bn, according to research by investment bank

UBS

and accountancy firm KPMG.

The increase comes as more people gain access to mobile phones and seek efficient ways to transfer money. This has stoked competition among established banks, technology giants and

digital start-ups as they battle to capture a larger slice of the nascent market.

Experts say traditional banks that are busy maintaining their old technology systems risk losing customers and revenue to nimble digital firms if they fail to offer efficient mobile banking.

David Hodgkinson of KPMG said: “Banks must adapt or die. Mobile banking is clearly supplanting all other channels as the main portal between the bank and the consumer.” He added that although many banks have “risen to the challenge” and invested in new infrastructure and “pioneering initiatives”, others need to follow suit to keep up with the pace of change.

Royal Bank of Scotland

experienced its second technology glitch in six weeks on Friday, leaving customers unable to access their online and mobile accounts.

Philip Finch, a researcher at UBS, said traditional banks now consider mobile banking a priority. “Three years ago, banks were questioning how important investing in mobile banking was. Now, everyone is investing in mobile banking. Board commitment is high, which is necessary to allow banks to invest in IT.”

一份新的研究报告警告称，手机银行客户人数即将超过全球人口的四分之一，在这样一个要满足日益高涨的手机银行使用需求的数字时代，银行“必须适应，否则就会灭亡”。

投行瑞银(UBS)和会计事务所毕马威(KPMG)的研究显示，未来四年，手机银行的使用预计将增加一倍以上，用户将从8亿增至18亿。

现在，有条件使用手机的人越来越多，寻求转移资金的有效方式的人也越来越多。这引发了现有银行、科技巨头以及数字创业型企业之间的竞争，它们争先抢占这一新生市场的更大份额。

专家表示，对于那些正忙于维护自己陈旧技术系统的传统银行来说，如果它们不能提供高效的手机银行业务，它们的客户和收入有可能会被那些灵活的数字企业抢走。

毕马威的戴维?霍奇金森(David Hodgkinson)表示：“银行必须适应，否则就会灭亡。手机银行显然正在取代其他一切渠道，成为银行与客户之间的主要门户。”他还说，虽然许多银行已“奋起接受挑战”、投资新的基础设施和“开创性项目”，但其他银行也需要采取同样的举措以跟上变革的步伐。

上周五，苏格兰皇家银行(RBS)发生了六周来的第二次技术故障，导致其客户无法访问他们的在线账户和移动账户。

瑞银研究员菲利普?芬奇(Philip Finch)表示，传统银行现在将手机银行视为一个优先事项。“三年前，银行还在质疑投资手机银行到底有多重要。现在，每家银行都在投资手机银行。董事会的决心很大，这是银行投资IT的必要条件。”

译者/彩云