Having recently arrived in Canada and Australia, and with plans underway for a February launch in China, it’s safe to say that Apple Pay is taking over the NFC payments world.
Which is exactly why, according to a new report, banks are ramping up their technology budgets in order to compete — concerned that tech companies like Apple could outgun them on the payments front.
The report specifically mentions British banks, although I wouldn’t be in the least surprised if this goes for banks across the world. In the U.K., 27 percent of senior bankers consider tech companies to be their biggest threat, as per a survey carried out by software firm Temenos.
As a result, 58 percent of senior bankers say they will be upping their IT budget this year — representing the highest percentage increase since the annual survey started back in 2008, the year after Apple announced the iPhone.
The main problem for banks, the report says, is that they apparently lack the budget resources to compete with tools like Apple Pay, while 19 percent claim that they also struggle to keep up with the rise of mobile and wearable devices, such as the Apple Watch.
“Banks are upping investment, especially in technology,” the report notes. “It appears that banks recognise the importance of technology to deliver a more intimate customer experience and to counter the threat from a more competitive environment.”
With tech companies like Chinese up-start Xiaomi just starting to get into the money lending business, too, things may only get tougher for banks.
Via: Telegraph
