Here’s a sad story: I arrived home to find Fast Company in my mailbox with the cover story being the world’s 50 most innovative companies and not a single one is a U.S. bank. Not one. An entire industry that underpins our whole economy, indeed the world economy, and none are innovating to a high enough level. Of course this isn’t surprising – what is surprising is that this sorry fact is not lighting a fire under the banking industry’s behind. And it should.
This can’t continue. Innovation, rapid, responsive, tech-savvy innovation, has got to take the banking industry by storm in short-order. And I’m not talking about the shenanigans of creative accounting that almost brought our entire economy to a complete halt in recent history. I’m talking about enhanced servicing, products that people crave, and new lines of business that enable ordinary people to live extraordinary lives. I’m talking about innovation that invigorates the best, brightest, and most creative minds we’ve got to do the most good in the world that can be done.
Bankers have got to stop watching out for their bonuses more than their customers. They’ve got to be more concerned with being great than being rich. And this isn’t a naive wish – this is reality. If they are going to survive, let alone thrive, banks need to get with the program, stop thinking like stodgy old has-beens, and start thinking like passionate entrepreneurs who have a great sense of urgency. The top 50 most innovative companies list needs to be littered with financial services companies, not devoid of them. And it’s up to us in financial services to see that this gets done.
Christa Avampato 