Corporate Banking
Beyond the relationship model
What's your 2025 outlook?
Product
Provider
Providing high-volume and low-margin products
Platform
Player
Utilising platforms to leverage market opportunity
Relationship
Builder
Establishing wider-banking relationships with clients
Beyond the relationship model
The way in which business and commercial banks position themselves is changing. In recent years, banking has undergone a digital and technological transformation – a shift that has increased access to banking services for all and driven the effectiveness and efficiency of banking processes.
The opportunities are clear. But how can corporate and business banks evolve to seize these opportunities?
Why is business and banking already changing?
When asked corporate banks to rate corporate clients' top priorities today, and then in 2025 across trade finance, lending and cash management. Account and relationship management drops in importance relative to other perceived service priorities:
Today's priority rating
2025 priority rating
*Click on today's priorities to see the updated 2025 priorities
The need to deliver faster, more agile and more tailored corporate finance solutions across industries and sectors is driving corporate banks to embark on a digital transformation journey to change how they position themselves to meet new customer needs.
Cash management reimagined
" It’s clear these priorities are being driven by the demand among businesses of all sizes for payment and cashflow activity that is instant, safe and secure.
If, for example, you are a small business trading in containers in Africa, you want to be able to do business in all parts of the continent – but you need peace of mind that all activity is being done in line with local regulations, you want payments processed quickly, and you want instant access to all relevant documentation and agreements, in the formats you desire."
Finastra
Cash management bank transformation priorities for 2025:
Regulatory
Compliance
Account
Validation
Risk
Management
Roadmap to the new relationship model
The shift from a lending perspective is clear. Banks around the world are moving their focus from operating as traditional ‘relationship builders’ to being platform players.
This move doesn’t completely remove the role of the relationship manager. In fact, it enhances their ability to deliver fast, accurate and flexible solutions – by putting more accurate and relevant data at their fingertips, accelerating and improving decision making.
Our research reveals that 75% of banks are either already engaged with or planning to engage a FinTech partner to help them access the required expertise & capabilities to stay relevant and meet clients’ future expectations
Trade finance:
Departure from the traditional relationship model
The need to deliver faster, more agile and more tailored trade finance solutions across industries and sectors, is driving corporate banks to embark on a digital transformation journey to change how they position themselves to meet new customer needs.
Traditional relationship models are being reimagined through digital transformation – creating a shift away from traditional relationship management to an increased focus on being digitally powered platform players.
66%
Americas
90%
Europe & Middle East
53%
Africa
96%