An Executive Insight with FISPAN’s CEO Clayton Weir as he discusses how the recent COVID-19 pandemic altered the future of commercial banking by accelerating the need to eliminate manual processes which has led customers to seek digital solutions from their financial institutions.

Digital adoption in the financial services industry is estimated to have accelerated by as much as five years due to the pandemic, forcing both clients and businesses to change the way they interact and collaborate. The urgent need for digital banking processes presents commercial financial institutions (FIs) with an opportunity to satisfy their customers while moving into this new digital age. The opportunity is best executed with innovative application programming interface (API) integrations.

APIs prove to be a vital solution to this changing landscape as they can bridge the gap for both seamless banking, as well as a more informed understanding of customer preferences. FISPAN CEO Clayton Weir shared his thoughts on the acceleration of digitalization as a result of the pandemic and how this resulted in new consumer expectations, shaping the future of banking innovation.

Read The Full Q&A Below

How did the global health crisis alter what businesses want from their FIs? What must banks keep in mind to ensure they can make the most of this opportunity?

“Digitization and innovation have happened at a quicker pace than [they did] pre-pandemic. This is because businesses suddenly needed to eliminate manual and paper-based processes, so they looked to their banks for help implementing digital solutions quickly. This has pushed banks to start rethinking their innovation goals, and they’ve started asking what efforts will have an immediate impact on the client experience. Banks must keep in mind that their customers’ expectations are not going to slow down as things fully open back up again [and that] the demand for better business banking experiences is here to stay.”

Why are technologies such as APIs proving essential for FIs to offer corporations the connectivity they need for smooth, seamless B2B payment operations?

“With open APIs, there will be an increase in the sharing of data and communication between applications, which enables FIs to issue a whole different set of products to their customers. This connectivity and data integration provides the infrastructure required for seamless business banking and B2B payments to thrive. If banks embrace open APIs, they can work with partners to bring their banking products directly to their clients in new ways. In addition, banks will benefit from a better understanding of their customers’ interactions and preferences.”

What are some of the challenges that could be holding FIs back from being able to provide businesses with faster or more efficient banking services, and how can they overcome them?

“Integration challenges are often a big hurdle when it comes to digital transformation, but technology has moved too far, too fast for banks to try to build these capabilities themselves. Buying companies that can bring those services to market is not impossible, but likely outside the purview of most commercial banks. The best way for B2B banks to manage the impact of rapidly evolving customer expectations is to partner with agile, innovative FinTechs that will allow them to provide experiences that will exceed their customers’ expectations.”

Learn more about the current state of commercial banking in this free FISPAN report made in collaboration with PYMNTS. 

More About Clayton Weir

Clayton R. Weir is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of FISPAN. He shapes FISPAN’s vision and execution, with an emphasis on people, product, and client success. He previously founded the BC Tech HyperGrowth Accelerator and FinTech Industry Cluster.

Over the last 5 years, Clayton has led FISPAN to become the market leader in embedded banking. FISPAN banking partners collectively hold $11 trillion in assets and include 11 of the top 40 banks in North America. Clayton is also the host of FISPAN’s If I Ran the Bank podcast, hitting on the hottest topics in banking, finance, and the future of payments.