Mobile, Tablet, Industry Disruptors Among Topics to be Featured at Celent Banking Insight & Innovation Day

The future of mobile and tablet banking, and disruptors in the financial services space will be among the major topics discussed at Celent's Banking Insight & Innovation Day next week in Charlotte, N.C.

This will be the fifth year the Boston-based analyst form will host the event, which will feature Celent analysts as well as representatives from more than 30 banks. Celent will also be issuingits "Model Bank" awards at the event.

Celent Senior Analyst Jacob Jegher, who will be hosting a roundtable on tablet banking at the event, says the discussions at the event will largely focus on the "critical juncture" banks face on several fronts today.

"New streams of revenue are absolutely needed, and there are changes to be made to move forward," Jegher notes.

Jegher said the discussion on mobile banking will not focus so much on what is already out there, but the future of the channel or, "Generation 2.0 [of mobile], what's next."

Tablet banking, though not as mature as the mobile channel, can help to revolutionize mobile and online, says Jegher. The tablet is an interesting middle ground between online banning, which generally can feature more content, and the mobile channel, which due to its nature offers a more limited user experience. The tablet, notes Jegher, features a rich interface that combines the best of both worlds.

In fact, Jegher believes that as banks realize the opportunity that the tablet format offers, instead of formatting their online banking to a tablet, they should begin to redesign their online banking and mobile experience to be more like their tablet banking offerings. "The tablet should be the starting point for what we get online and what we get on mobile," he adds.

Industry disruptors will also be a big topic at the event, says Jegher. This not only includes nontraditional financial institutions like PayPal and startups in areas like mobile payments, but banks themselves that are utilizing disruptive technology.

All these trends play into the changing consumer mindset. Today, most consumers expect convenience and the ability to get whatever they want whenever they want. While banks are not as attuned this in their offerings as some startups might be, Jegher notes banks are not entirely to blame since they have to deal with legacy systems that newer tech companies getting into the financial services space don't have to.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio