Banking Reinvented: key highlights from ENGAGE Europe 2024

The event was a vibrant exchange of ideas and strategies aimed at transitioning from traditional banking to engagement banking - putting customers at the heart of every decision.

Below are several snippets and key highlights from some of the insightful sessions led by top banking leaders, all designed to inspire and equip them for the future of banking.

“Banking Reinvented” was the central theme at this year’s ENGAGE. Banks are under constant pressure to modernize their legacy technology to boost revenue and profitability. However, traditional strategies often fall short, lacking a comprehensive approach to maximizing customer lifetime value, optimizing total cost of ownership (TCO), and enhancing employee productivity.

In the opening keynote, Jouk Pleiter, Backbase CEO and Founder, emphasized the necessity of reinventing banking. He shared a vision for a future where customer retention is increased, servicing costs are reduced, and customer experiences are so intuitive and personalized that customers couldn’t imagine banking with any other institution. 

This vision is at the core of our Engagement Banking Platform.

One of the standout sessions was led by Backbase CTO, Thomas Fuss, who introduced the Intelligence Fabric which is now embedded in the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform.

This AI-powered layer is designed to supercharge customer growth, boost employee productivity, and help banks stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Thomas showcased how AI and automation can transform banking by analyzing customer data, such as spending patterns and credit scores, to deliver personalized product recommendations at scale, creating smarter, more efficient customer experiences.

Read the press release about our Intelligence Fabric for more details.

Integration remains a top challenge in banking due to the continuous modernization of tech stacks and core systems. General Manager for Ecosystems at Backbase, Roland Booijen’s keynote focused on overcoming these challenges with a plug-and-play architecture and a unified data layer, our Intelligence Fabric. 

This approach helps banks break down silos, enhance AI capabilities, and boost employee productivity.

Learn more about Grand Central and our integrations marketplace.

The ENGAGE also featured an engaging fireside chat with experts from Microsoft and McKinsey on the transformative power of AI in banking. A topic popular not only in banking but in all tech spheres.

Henning Soller from McKinsey & Co and Marcus Martinez from Microsoft shared their insights on how AI is reshaping the European banking landscape by improving operational efficiency, personalizing customer experiences, and enhancing fraud detection and risk management.

Key takeaways included that AI will continue to drive engagement and tailored customer experiences with predictive analytics. Customer servicing will become frictionless via virtual assistants, and personalized financial advice will increase share of wallet.

Looking ahead, several trends are expected to shape the next decade, including AI-powered open banking ecosystems, conversational banking via improved natural language processing, and AI-enhanced risk and credit scoring models.

Follow Backbase on LinkedIn to be notified when this fireside chat comes out in podcast form.

ENGAGE Europe 2024 was a success, highlighting innovative banking strategies, the transformative power of AI and setting the stage for a more customer-centric and efficient banking future. Let's make reinvent the future of banking together.

Want to learn more about how these innovative concepts and solutions can help your bank?