The latest study from Accenture shows that only 6% of board directors and just 3% of CEOs of the world’s biggest banks have any technology experience, reports Business Wire.
The study of 109 global banks considered “technology experience” as holding or having held senior technology positions at a company or senior responsibilities at a technology firm.
Head of financial services at Accenture, Richard Lumb, said:
“Very few banks have technologists on their boards and yet when you look at the big strategic challenges facing their business, particularly from financial technology companies, a lot of banks’ revenue is under threat from this area.”
This means 94% of banks directors lack competence in modern cyber security and technological innovation. According to the Financial Times, the banking industry compares poorly to other sectors, which will have a negative impact on its growth and development.
“If your main competition now comes from financial technology companies and not banks and the biggest threat you face is cyber security, then technology has become so ingrained in your business that you really need to know something about it,” adds Lumb.
Today, as society is moving towards a cyber banking future where cash will cease to exist and the majority of money transactions will be done using modern IT-solutions, Lumb advises banks to set up technology committees that feature board members, something that just 11% of US and UK banks have done so far.
“Many of the biggest challenges now confronting banking are intimately connected with technology so directors need a robust understanding of technology if they are to make informed decisions,” he adds. “FinTech, cyber-security, IT resilience and technology implications of regulatory changes have all become critical board-level issues but many bank boards simply don’t have adequate expertise to assess these issues and make decisions about strategy, investment and how best to allocate technology resources.”