Maintaining human connection in a digital world
How has digital changed our day-to-day lives? Nowadays we are used to ordering our food through digital technology, be it via a delivery service like Deliveroo or Uber Eats, or through scanning a QR code when we sit down in a restaurant. We no longer need to ring up and visit our local takeaway or […]
Why Building Societies should walk the path to digital utopia
A building society is a mutual approach to building and running a financial institution, giving control to staff and customers, not shareholders. Revolving around communities, they tend to serve a region or multiple regions offering mostly savings and mortgages to their members. Large financial institutions, particularly the retail banks, are taking huge strides in digitising their approach to solving problems; from providing a far […]
Remember when there was a Crytpo bubble?
In the last year the prices of cryptocurrencies have increased dramatically – compared to this time last year, Bitcoin has increased by 3x, Ethereum by nearly 10x, and Dogecoin by 100x. This was partly fuelled by the relative ease of trading through platforms like Coinbase, Revolut and Robinhood, partly through the time and ready cash […]
Woodhurst discusses – Sustainability
Globally sustainability is seen to be rising up the agenda as we begin to navigate ourselves through the post-pandemic world attempting to implement a ‘green recovery’. With sustainability pledges from organisations being announced almost weekly, this month our Woodhurst discusses delved in to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in financial services, and whether we […]
Woodhurst discusses the impact of Covid-19
At 8am on the first Friday of each month, Woodhurst gathers as a group to discuss a pertinent topic affecting financial services, consulting or digital transformation. We call this early morning exchange ‘Woodhurst Discusses’ and it is usually fuelled with strong coffee and a croissant or two. In January we settled down to discuss the […]
Have retail banks received a lasting digital boost from Covid-19?
With much said over the last year about Covid-19’s impact on digital, I see a need to separate customer-driven digital engagement initiatives from bank-driven digital transformation initiatives, to understand if there will be lasting benefits for retail banks. Digital engagement on the rise and here to stay? Bank of America’s (BofA) recent results point to […]
Forget Cashless – should we be focusing on establishing a Cardless society?
Creating a cashless society has been a frequent topic of discussion over the past few years, understandably so with the use of cash decreasing year on year, reaching an all-time low before the pandemic. Cash represented only 23% of all payments in 2019 down from 48% in 2014. The downward trend in the use of […]
How to be set up for success with Digital Transformation
The benefit of Digital Transformation is clear to see. Digitally advanced companies create 9% more revenue than industry competitors. The 3-year average profit for digitally centric companies is 5% higher than those behind the curve. However, there is one key statistic which should be highlighted – Over 70% of Digital Transformations fail to reach their […]
Why Digital Transformation isn’t just for IT
Throughout the work we do, we often encounter people who believe that Digital Transformation sits siloed in a specific part of the organisation – usually IT. To explain why Digital Transformation is for the entire business, not just IT, it’s worth starting with what it means – which isn’t as simple as it sounds. What […]
Technology – The beating heart of AI
If data is the lifeblood of an AI solution, technology is the heart that keeps the blood pumping. The science behind AI and ML algorithms hasn’t changed dramatically in the last 30 years – it is the advent of cheap, scalable computing power hosted in the Cloud that is driving the conversation around AI today. […]