Amazement. Excitement. Controversy. Fear.By now, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, the revolutionary artificial intelligence (AI) technology that has stunned the world in 2023. Perhaps you’ve even tried out the free version of this powerful tool to draft an email to your boss or write a poem about your pet.As exciting as generative AI applications like ChatGPT are, they’ve also triggered fear and uncertainty across many spheres, from education, where many school districts have banned students from using AI to write their term papers, to the financial services industry, where major banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo have prohibited their employees from using AI for corporate communications, citing compliance concerns. Meanwhile, other financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, are experimenting with generative AI tools internally to help write and test code, which has some developers worried about their roles.While conversational AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper and Google Bard have suddenly captured the public’s imagination, the underlying technology is not new. And it’s certainly not the only—or best—use case for generative AI in banking.

With the anticipation of a global downturn, a number of banking and technology trends are emerging worldwide. As a result, financial institutions will have to innovate faster than ever to avoid falling behind competitors and ensure they’re positioned to take full advantage of new opportunities today and throughout 2023.

As financial institutions (FIs) face the current macroeconomic landscape and an impending global recession, they are beginning to feel the impact on their budgets. As a result, many banks are redirecting their spend towards projects with faster time to value that improve operational efficiency and help control costs.For lenders, this also means navigating increased risk and higher chances of loan defaults, not to mention new competition threatening their market share, all while continuing to create personalized experiences, winning customers, mitigating risk and managing compliance. That’s no easy feat.

With 2023 underway, savvy lenders are looking for mortgage tech that will help them navigate the economic headwinds this year is slated to bring. Efficiency, cost savings, and better collaboration are top of mind for many lenders. But which part of the mortgage journey can they digitize?

In today’s rapidly transforming technology environment, financial institutions (FIs) must think beyond businesses or individuals as a customer and truly see them as a Universal Customer. A Universal Customer is someone who has been empowered with such an excellent banking experience that they want to stay with that one FI for all their financial needs. While Universal Customers deeply trust their FIs, they also have other expectations for service, including, speed, simplicity, and accessibility. To attract, retain and grow these valuable Universal Customers, financial institutions must use digital mobility, artificial intelligence, automation and data analytics to learn more about what customers want at different stages of their financial lifecycle.

Allied Irish Banks, or AIB, is a financial services group based in Ireland whose core services are Retail, Business and Corporate Banking. As one of the largest financial institutions in Ireland, the Bank serves its 2.8 million customers at over 200 branches throughout the country.

The market is constantly changing as customer needs evolve and technology advances. As financial institutions adapt to keep up with those changes, the need for a seamless, digital experience grows, too.For most institutions, transforming your infrastructure takes time and hard work. That’s why it’s so important to know where your institution currently is and where you hope to be as your digital transformation strategy evolves. This kind of early preparation can help you navigate the challenges of a transformation and improve your chances of long-term success.

As your financial institution considers the tools, technologies and partnerships that will help you scale in the years to come, there are a number of factors to consider when evaluating a potential vendor.AgilityAs our digital and economic landscape continues to shift, financial institutions must be prepared to evolve alongside a society that expects instant results and the frictionless ease of automation. Post-pandemic, consumers are less likely than ever to go to a physical branch, so a robust online presence has become a vital component to banking.With the market constantly in flux, choosing an agile vendor who can grow and adapt with you through an ever-evolving market is more important than ever. Many of the FIs who have implemented nCino have experienced this benefit firsthand, and chose nCino in part because its nimble, scalable single platform solution helps them manage their clients’ needs and enables their employee to provide more effective customer service, no matter where they’re working.

In September, the nCino UK Mortgage team ran a workshop with 40 delegates at the MoneyLive Building Societies event on the topic of digitising mortgage journeys and the solutions technology offers.