Bankloch

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape,   innovation is the lifeblood of modern companies . Those that prioritize and integrate innovation into their core strategies not only stay ahead of competitors but also drive industry trends. However, fostering a culture of innovation requires deliberate actions and strategic initiatives. While many companies claim to be innovative, often this is only seen in a few high-profile projects that rarely extend beyond the proof-of-concept phase. For a company to truly be innovative, it must   create an environment where every employee can contribute to innovation . This is challenging, as daily business tasks often leave little time and energy for new ideas. Thus, it is crucial for top management to create the right conditions for innovation to thrive. Good innovation requires therefore actions on multiple fronts: Linking the Business Strategy to the Innovation Strategy : A strong connection between a company’s business strategy and i...

" Data is the new gold " is a quote often heard, especially in the financial services industry. This sector deals with enormous amounts of extremely valuable data about their customers and handles purely virtual products or services. Thus, data is an essential part of the financial services business. While the value of data is undeniable, data is not a scarce commodity, unlike "gold." Enormous amounts of data are produced daily. For example, the world created around 118 million petabytes in 2023 and is expected to create 463 million petabytes per day by 2025 (for reference, a single petabyte is one million gigabytes). Although storing and processing these vast amounts of data is complex, the true challenge lies in converting this raw (almost infinite) data into actionable insights. This is where " Big Data Analytics " comes into the picture. Data analytics is no longer a nice-to-have for businesses. With financial services companies becoming primarily digi...

As a product manager, you often feel a strong urge to define features. The more features you design, the more accomplished you feel, believing you’re providing more value to the customer and covering every conceivable need or preference. In reality, it is often the contrary: Increased Complexity : Additional features increase the complexity of the solution, often negatively impacting the user experience by overwhelming users. The experience can become so convoluted that it detracts from the core value the product was meant to provide. Opportunity Cost : The capacity used for these additional features could have been allocated to more valuable tasks, such perfectionizing the most impactful features. Maintenance Costs : Increased complexity results in higher maintenance costs. Early in my career, I worked for a private bank that developed a new quarterly investment portfolio report with complex analyses. Many customers didn’t request this level of detail and eventually asked for a simple...

Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, there has been   a global surge in interest in AI, particularly in generative AI . Millions of dollars in venture capital are pouring into AI startups, and any tech company not incorporating AI is seen as outdated. AI has become essential not only for obtaining funding but also for securing customer interest. While I am a huge fan of AI and use it almost daily, the   current hype is clearly unhealthy . As I discussed in my blog " The Right Fit: Assessing Business Value before Adopting AI/ML " ( https://bankloch.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-right-fit-assessing-business-value.html ) the potential value and opportunities AI offers are enormous, but AI is not necessary or recommended for every use case. Assessing where AI brings value is essential, yet this crucial element seems to be often overlooked in today’s tech world. This   hype is reminiscent of the blockchain craze   a few years ago. Banks were using blockchain for applicati...

Belgium is currently in the midst of forming a new government, a process known for its length and complexity. As we face yet another challenging government formation, a significant debate has emerged around the introduction of a   capital gains tax on profits from the sale of equities   that are currently untaxed in Belgium. The proposal suggests a tax rate of around 10% on these profits. Whether this is a good or bad idea is up for debate. Given the dire state of the government’s finances, exploring new revenue sources is certainly on the agenda, especially as Belgium remains one of the few countries without such a tax. However, this article focuses on the practical implementation of such a tax. While the concept may seem straightforward, a deeper dive into the details reveals a host of complexities. Let’s start with a basic scenario: an individual buys shares for €100 and later sells them for €150. The profit is €50, which, under a 10% capital gains tax, would result in a €5...