Mixed feelings in investment banking: Corona drives digitalization forward

FinTech companies and banks work together on a digital future

Frankfurt (Main) / Magdeburg, 07 May 2020 – The Corona crisis not only changes our private life but also drives developments forward that impact the working environment in a quite noticeable way – also for banks. These impacts influence the trend indicator in the investment banking industry. valantic, software partner of many banks, carried out a quick online poll among valantic customers. The result: bank employees express mixed feelings, rating the overall sentiment with only five out of ten possible stars. “In a very short time, processes and process chains had to be adjusted massively to this challenge. A majority of customers is now accessing our software remotely from home giving us an idea of how the cooperation between banks and companies in the FinTech software industry may look like,“ said Jens Lippoldt, Division Manager Sales & Business Development at valantic. According to more than 90 per cent of the interviewed valantic customers, impacts on support quality and application security could not be noticed. There were no differences regarding the quality and time of responses to requests compared to the regular support out of the office.

New Work in trading

New scenarios in electronic trading also include the remote use of valantic solutions for electronic trading within the legally permitted parameters. More than 90 per cent of the respondents are remotely using the software solutions for the pricing and monitoring of financial transactions. However, for a smooth usage, the customers are asking for new support models such as webinars with both professional and technical content. “We are pleased to meet those requests and prepare for more remote support instead of traditional on-site trainings. Particularly as the need for webinars is going to exist even after Corona,“ said Martin Graßhof, Head of valantic’s Support Centre. Apparently, in the financial world mainly coined by presence, there is a strong trend to accept modern ways of working – an effect that is likely to continue after the crisis.

Crises always offer opportunities

Meanwhile, the German Federal Government has also taken a step towards more digitalization and organised the #WirvsVirus (We vs Virus) hackathon at the end of March. valantic developers also participated in this digital event aiming to contribute digital solutions developed by the community for the community. A similar event took place at the end of April: the European Commission hosted a pan-European hackathon to connect civil society, partners and investors across Europe in order to develop innovative solutions for challenges related to the Covid-19 virus. Crises always also offer opportunities – the current crisis may thus lead to major progress, socially and politically as well as with regards to current digitalization projects in the financial industry.