Banking Technology Jobs: We’ve got an app for that!

Purely Banking is the first place you should look for Banking technology jobs.

We asked: is the job market within the banking industry changing in the face of new technological challenges? With the enormous strides forward in the use of technology by banks, could cash, the chequebook and even plastic be left behind? More and more banks are embracing technology in order to meet customer demands. From call centres to internet banking to mobile applications, banking technology will continue marching on.

Whether you believe the new technology is a driving force for change or an enabler for innovation, it seems every time a new way to conduct business is put in place, something more advanced appears. For example, banking on your home PC is so last decade, the demand now is for mobile banking applications for this iPhone and Android generation.

Even though there are 400 million internet users in the world, that figure is dwarfed by the 5 billion mobile users worldwide. According to Jiten Arora, a managing director in the Transaction Banking Division at Standard Chartered Bank, in Africa alone there are 20 mobile connections for every internet connection.

Banking Technology to Cash-In Notes and Coins?

David Urbano, Head of Mobile at the Spanish bank La Caixa, speaking at the Mobile Technology in Financial Services Summit in London on June 22^nd, described his bank’s six month long Mobile Contactless Payment scheme last year in Sitges, Spain, in partnership with Visa and Telefonica.

It involved nearly the entire number of shops in the town, around 500 businesses, with NFC (near field communication) enabled phones given to 1,500 customers. The customers could purchase goods worth less than €20 by holding the phone against a Visa payWave reader. More expensive purchases required the use of a PIN. The results of the project were even more encouraging than expected: it was found that 90% of customers took advantage of the technology spending €31 on average with 80% of retailers processing mobile transactions. 60% of transactions were under €20, with 35% under €6. There was a reported 30% increase in Visa transactions and a 23% rise in billing from consumers, pointing to demand being driven up by the scheme.

The project was deemed so successful it has been rolled out in the Balearics to 150,000 customers and 5,000 retailers.

Urbano said: “…perhaps mobiles could be a substitute for cash transactions in the future Almost all customers say the new service is very quick and easy to use. They think it’s more secure than a credit card, because you don’t have to give the card to the merchant; and you realise straight away if you lose your mobile, but not necessarily if you lose your card.”

What this means for the banking jobs market.

If technology, such as the use of NFC, is expanded to all mobile subscribers, then the use of cash, cheques and even plastic credit and debit cards could very soon become a thing of the past.

With customers having less time in their daily schedule to visit the high street banks, the banking industry could move away from the high street altogether; this will obviously mean job losses for the retail sector but will open up more opportunities for the sort of technological professionals needed to keep ahead of, or at least abreast of, constant innovation.