CW+ Premium Content/CW Nordics

Chatbots, layoffs, closer startup ties and Payment Directive II (PSD2) – these themes coloured the Nordic finance industry in 2017 as banks accelerated their digitisation efforts. And they cannot afford to slow down in 2018 as the number of fintechs coming in with completely new value propositions is increasing every year, according to Halvor Lande, head of digitisation at DNB, Norway’s largest bank. “Big tech companies like Facebook, Apple and Amazon are also starting to move into this industry and challenging traditional banking products and services,” he said. “This has created an increased sense of urgency among all banks that we need to step up significantly in digital product development and business reinvention.” Examples are not hard to find. DNB has redefined itself as a technology company with a banking licence. Its latest launch is a fully automated lending process that allows the bank’s existing customers to extend or top up their loans in a few minutes online or on a mobile app. No contact with a bank employee is ...