Banking

Banking industry profits under threat




Banks in Europe and the UK have 31% of profits (approximately £28.5bn) at risk due to underlying threats to the market, according to the McKinsey global banking annual review 2016.

These threats have been identified as the weak global economy, digitisation and regulation.

More severe digital disruption could reduce EU banking profits from their current £89.6bn to £40.7bn in 2020.

By 2020, returns on equity could drop by half to 1-2%.

McKinsey suggests that banks could address these headwinds by engaging in a fundamental transformation focused on resilience, reorientation and renewal.

These changes include repricing and greater intermediation, reducing short-term costs, managing capital and risk, and protecting core business assets.


Other changes include reorienting their businesses around technology and restructuring their organisations.

The report’s authors Denis Bugrov, Miklos Dietz and Thomas Poppensieker said: “Banks must adapt to the reality of a macroeconomic environment that offers a number of risks and limited upside potential.

“Meanwhile the pressures of digitisation, which boosts competition and compresses margins, are growing.

“Some emerging-market banks are managing well, offering innovative mobile services to customers.

“But our report finds that in the largest emerging markets – China and India – banks are losing ground to digital-commerce firms that have moved rapidly into banking.”

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