How technology is bridging the gap between retail and corporate banks

It’s easy to see why. Retail banks need to deliver a high daily volume of interactions, serving huge customer groups, and using relatively standardised products and services. In contrast, corporate and commercial banks offer a greater range of services and more tailored interactions – making it far harder to scale client-facing technology.

Our Vision for Banking research shows that retail banking is likely to undergo radical changes over the coming years – and stresses how the evolution of technology will play a crucial role in every future scenario for the industry. Increasingly, many of the factors shaping the role of technology in retail banking are becoming equally relevant for CCBs, as they face similar challenges to remain relevant, embrace innovation, and defend market share from non-bank entrants.

As we move towards 2030, we expect to see growing convergence in the way that retail banks and CCBs use technology to enhance customer experiences. Innovations in key areas such as Generative AI are eroding historical barriers to leveraging the power of data in CCBs. As the banks’ challenges converge, in our view, so will their key priorities and interests.

Three important examples include:

1. People

Technology will not reduce the importance of people in CCBs. Instead, it will change the role they play in facilitating client interactions. Corporate and commercial clients will increasingly rely on self-service digital channels for day-to-day queries, giving relationship managers the opportunity to focus on orchestrating higher-value engagement. Client-facing staff will work with AI-powered virtual assistants to enhance their insights and understanding – making interactions more informed, more specific, and more valuable.

2. Regulation

It's natural for incumbent banks to view technology-based potential rivals – such as eCommerce companies advancing credit to their suppliers – as enjoying an advantage from their non-bank regulatory status. However, banks have a potential advantage too if they can leverage their regulatory expertise to strengthen their brand in areas such as customer centricity or operational resilience. As technology providers face growing public scrutiny, banks can build on existing customer trust by ensuring they implement AI and other new tools responsibly and ethically.

3. Ecosystems

In retail banking, a growing ecosystem of specialist technology vendors is helping banks to enhance customer experiences through collaboration with non-financial partners. CCBs will increasingly follow a similar path, partnering with Fintechs – and sometimes investing in them – to integrate them into offerings and provide clients with differentiated experiences. For example, blockchain powered platforms could help banks to streamline their trade finance offerings, integrating them into clients’ supply chains. These and other partnerships will drive growing convergence, with technology becoming embedded into banking products and vice versa.

CCBs are poised to emulate retail banks in becoming more innovative and digitised, and in ensuring that technology enhances client outcomes. CCBs can get ahead of the competition by learning from the experience of their retail counterparts, and leveraging technology in a way that leans into their strengths of experience, trust, and customer understanding.