Deutsche Bank

In the summer of 2016, Deutsche Bank Global Securities Services commissioned a survey of 200 market participants, to examine what was driving the key players in the industry and influencing their strategic thinking. Volatility remains top of the list for more than half of the institutional investors, banks, financial sponsors, brokers and sovereign wealth funds we surveyed. But beneath that turmoil, they highlighted very specific challenges and opportunities.

How financial technology firms and digital ecosystems can leverage banks’ core competencies through equal partnerships, to innovate and grow in the B2B space.

Traditional retail payment systems do not match the immediacy and ubiquity of digital processes in commerce and social life. In several countries, instant payment systems have been introduced to bring payments up to the speed of digital processes, but also for more general economic reasons like infrastructure modernisation or financial inclusion.

Debate over blockchain technology is raging in many online and offline media at present. In principle, the technology constitutes a decentralised ledger system that can be coordinated via peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.