S3E08: Bridging Gaps in the Banking World

Episode Description

In this captivating conversation, we have the pleasure of hosting Joy Macknight, the first female Editor of the prestigious publication - The Banker. Join us as we journey through Joy's illustrious career, starting from her double major in biology and environmental studies to leading a team of editors and reporters covering the international banking industry. She shares intriguing insights into the challenges and innovation within the banking sector and talks about her journey to becoming the first female Editor of the Banker.

We explore the ever-evolving landscape of sustainable banking and finance. We discuss how banks are redefining their reporting, the challenges of comparisons, and the need to include new criteria such as biodiversity and social aspects. We then venture into the realm of Open Banking and Open Finance, whose potential in the UK is yet to be fully tapped. We also discuss the revolutionary potential of open banking and digital identity, touching on the significant role banks could play as trusted sources of digital identity certification.

Our conversation then shifts to the importance of gender focus in designing financial services and products, highlighting the potential for products tailored specifically for women. We examine the need for diversity in banks, the sobering reality of gender parity as per the ANF Gender Balance Index, and the various dimensions of diversity. Finally, we delve into the potential impact of quantum computing on banks and how banks need to gear up for this technological advancement. Listen in as Joy shares her thoughts on all these topics and invites everyone to join the Banker Publication community.

3 Takeaways:

• Importance of Gender-Inclusive Design: Joy highlighted the significance of designing financial services and products with women in mind. By considering the different needs and life journeys of women, banks can create more inclusive and tailored offerings. Designing with a gender focus can also empower women and drive financial inclusion.
• Long Road to DEI: While progress has been made, there is still a long way to go in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the financial services industry. Achieving gender parity alone is estimated to take around 140 years, highlighting the need for continuous efforts to foster diversity and equality in all aspects of banking, including leadership positions. 3. Quantum Computing as a Game-Changer: Joy discussed the potential impact of quantum computing on the banking industry. While it poses risks to current cryptography systems, it also presents opportunities for improved market intelligence and algorithmic capabilities. Banks should invest in understanding quantum computing and build the necessary talent to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
• Quantum Computing as a Game-Changer: Joy discussed the potential impact of quantum computing on the banking industry. While it poses risks to current cryptography systems, it also presents opportunities for improved market intelligence and algorithmic capabilities. Banks should invest in understanding quantum computing and build the necessary talent to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.

Key Quotes:

• Some of the really interesting and quite innovative and new instruments that they're bringing to the capital markets, I think is really fascinating. And again, I think, the pressure of the impending climate crisis is just what we're facing at the moment really necessitates the banks to act, and what I feel is that they are doing that right so they're taking it very seriously they're moving into actually into the whole supply chains of their of themselves, but also of their corporate clients, and this is what we need to actually make a huge change.
• ​​When you think of banking as a service, a lot of banks are already starting to think about that. They're thinking about embedding their services and other platforms or other apps.Then they're also thinking about creating their own super apps so that everyone can, you know, work through the banking app to access other lifestyle activities that you want to do, et cetera.
• Looking at gender data and actually unpicking that, and then finding out what makes sense, not just male customers, but also female customers, because a female's life journey can be very different, right?And if you're just designing products for men, with men in mind, then you're actually missing out.So why not design a pension for women specifically.
• It comes to financial inclusion, but also female empowerment, etc. And then getting funding to women entrepreneurs is also a big thing that they're working on, which I think is really important.
• When you look at it from a gendered lens you can really see that there has been some impact, but at the same time it hasn't been enough in terms of all the different levels within the banks.And I think that's really important when we talk about designing financial services products for women. What you really want is to have women as part of that designing culture, etc. But also, you know, working at all the different levels of the bank.
• What you want to have in any bank, is you want to have those diverse communities represented, so that you're actually serving those communities in the broader sense. And when you have a default design, you're designing for  just one aspect, whether it's, it's men or whatever. When in actual fact you want to be designing products and I think technology is there that you can do that personalization.

BIO:

Joy Macknight is the Editor at The Banker.

She joined the publication in 2015 as Transaction Banking and Technology Editor. Previously, she was features editor at Profit & Loss, editorial director at Treasury Today and editor at gtnews. She also worked as staff writer on Banking Technology and IBM Computer Today, as well as a freelancer on Computer Weekly.

LinkedIn link to Joy

Twitter link to Joy

Link to The Banker

Here is the link to the Womens World Banking conference

Link to the 2018 article, Will the digital world solve the identity crisis?

About the Hosts

Matthew O'Neill is a husband, dad, geek, and Industry Managing Director, Advanced Technology Group in the Office of the CTO at VMware.

You can find Matthew on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Brian Hayes is an audiophile, dad, builder of sheds, maker of mirth, world traveler and EMEA Financial Services Industry Lead at VMware.

You can find Brian on LinkedIn.