A distinct cultural shift is required for in the securities services industry as firms needs to embrace millennial culture in their pursuit of FinTech developments, according to a panel.
Speaking at Sibos 2016 in Geneva, panellists discussed the necessity of a cultural change with the focus on FinTech developments and millennials a priority.
“The generation of people that will be operating the systems will be millennials, we need to accept this as part of day to day operations and leverage their skills,” said Stephen Bayly, CIO of HSBC Global Security Services.
“It is not just employing millennials, it is about looking at a change in cultural norms to operate with external influences in order to generate new ideas and provide a competitive stimulus.
The theme of cultural changes has been recurrent at Sibos with EY’s, banking and capital markets advisory partner David Williams stressing the need for a change of culture as innovation is not incentivised in banks. While embracing diversity and a drive for gender equality have also been widely discussed.
As banks are looking to implement new technologies, they are teaming up with FinTech firms while also exploring independently through innovation labs.
Global Custodian investigated the importance of the rising numbers of millennials in the industry and how market players will have to change their strategies accordingly.
Pinar Kip, departmental manager at State Street stressed that the FinTech influence might be the biggest disruptor in securities services and that it needs to be harnessed.
“I hope I am wrong, but true disruption will come from afar from in the form of smaller start-ups.
“They will have the advantages as they have a different culture which is more adaptable so they can be faster to adapt to change and fundamentally can react to problems.
Panellists also discussed how current FinTech applications can be leveraged in the current model with Angus Scott, head of product strategy and innovation at Euroclear highlighting the need for change.
“There is a need for change for banks themselves to leverage the intellectual and technical power of FinTechs,” he added.
“The power of FinTechs is not restricted and that is what the industry needs to move forward towards otherwise, we will end up with the formulation of innovation ideas, the banks saying no, and this costing millions of dollars.”