FinTech Magazine May 2020 | Page 37

– Bill Genovese , Vice President Corporate Strategy – Banking & Financial Markets , Huawei

to being an important intermediary . To an extent , we ’ re already seeing this in different regions of the world – those banks that are a little more digital savvy may start to act like a broker or financial services provider ; the leaders are moving more towards becoming marketplace organisations .”

Listing those new business models , Genovese notes particular interest in the movement of telcos and other industries into the banking sector . In this particular case , there are noteworthy examples in emerging markets where , he says , people don ’ t have access to bank branches but new communications infrastructure

– 5G , wireless , smartphones and the internet – are rapidly expanding reach and creating opportunities for financial inclusion . “ This is evident in Africa , for example , where the unbanked population is high ,” he says . “ More broadly , the industry ’ s application and development of digital and mobile technologies like 5G will drive investment , and will allow mobile-only models to really build that side of banking from the ground up ."

Of course , financial inclusion goes hand in hand with how we , as consumers , are able to bank at any one time . That prospect has changed for all of us as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic . On this point , Geneoves discusses how the next generation of financial services may evolve in a post- COVID-19 world . “ It ’ s quickening the shift in the direction we ’ ve been discussing ,” he explains . “ Right now , I think that whoever has the capacity to do a number of these digital services is going to pull ahead . There ’ s an interesting school of thought around trust in this shift , though , that finds even though we have access to this myriad of digital service options , many stay with their traditional provider out of fear that the system may get

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