How do you see the future of brick-and-mortar banks from an investor’s perspective? Will there still be bank branches in ten years, or will all payments already be made by card or mobile? How does that affect the future of brick-and-mortar banks – i.e., where will they get their profits from in the future?
Who ultimately benefits from the change in payment methods? Visa and other similar companies? Will brick-and-mortar banks keep up with the development, or should investors focus on companies developing new payment methods instead of brick-and-mortar banks?
Big tech companies certainly have a desire, in one way or another, to enter the territory of, for example, Visa, to intermediate transactions.
But traditional banking? Not so much, because of the teeth of regulation and strict capital adequacy requirements. In the US, many financial companies are moving away from the banking business.
Interesting insights. I personally think that brick-and-mortar banks are not going anywhere, but from an investor’s perspective, they will remain boring dividend machines, from which no significant increase in value can be expected. Brick-and-mortar banks are too rigid; Nordea, for example, has been trying to implement IT reforms for years, but the outward results have remained minimal.