The qualitative study involved questioning 30 directors and experts (from a range of sectors including services, telecommunications, real estate, local authorities, energy, start-ups and banks, in France and other countries), while the quantitative study was conducted on a representative sample of 7000 Europeans. The results give an overview of the use of new services in our changing cities and highlights Europeans’ perceptions, expectations and fears.
Key figures:
- Banks have legitimacy to manage and coordinate the new services in the city, according to 32% of Europeans,
- Comprehensive solutions are expected, combining all transport resources (metro, buses, taxis, bikes, self-service cars, ride-hailing services) via a single payment application (according to 70% of 18 to 24-year-olds) as well as enabling expenses to be shared, e.g. in the case of car-sharing (according to 57% of 18 to 24-year-olds),
- According to 74% of Europeans, bank branches will continue to exist in the cities of the future, although banks will need to innovate and transform themselves in smart cities.
Banks have legitimacy to manage and coordinate the new services in cities, according to 32% of Europeans
The question of the role of financial institutions in smart cities is rarely asked and the response is surprising. The public believes that banks have the most legitimacy to manage and coordinate new services in cities, after public authorities but ahead of tech giants and telephone operators.
According to 40% of Europeans, banks are identified as the best trusted third parties
Banks remain the leading trusted third parties for security and protection of personal data. This is reflected in greater confidence in bank applications. In response to experts who consider that this trust capital is in decline, banks need to make commitments in terms of the use of data, the right to be forgotten and even credit scoring criteria.
Consumers become producers and financiers
Data will become an essential lever to enhance the customer experience and expand the range of financial services via partnerships. This observation is part of an important shift, as consumers become producers of data, transport and energy and expect to be paid. Prices, meanwhile, must adapt to the emergence of the sharing economy and the spread of the “Airbnb effect”. Consumers are also becoming financiers, via crowdfunding – already 21% of French people would like more information and advice about this. In short, new-look cities, tailored to new consumer behavior, are beginning to emerge and banks need to catch up fast.
According to 74% of Europeans, bank branches will continue to exist in the cities of the future
Europeans express a need for streamlining of digital services, although at the same time they expect closer human relationships. A large majority do not foresee the disappearance of bank branches. In smart cities, banks will need to change their approach to face-to-face contact as well as their ATMs. A narrow majority of respondents (53%) anticipate the end of means of payment and believe that in the future they will no longer need cash, checks or even payment cards.
The adoption of new services, mainly popular with young people
Innovations mainly appeal to young people, while there is a significant difference in opinions between a bolder southern Europe and the more conservative northern countries, with France positioned neatly between the two. Although the public expects comprehensive end-to-end solutions (from purchasing a vehicle or piece of real estate to selling it on a platform created by the seller, for example), it also wants to be able to count on a single management and payment application – an application doing away with much of the documentation required by current solutions. For real estate, for example, we will have information about a district (commercial activities, transport, categories of inhabitants, etc.) and about the building (energy assessment). In addition to digital services, advice will need to be personalized and instantaneous. Smart cities will be experienced though “embedded” management and assistance solutions contained in mobile connected objects. Some experts see new services, such as robot-taxis, emerging within the next five years. The level of some services’ appeal demonstrates that behavior will probably evolve more gradually.
Study methodology
The qualitative study involved questioning 30 directors and experts in September/October 2017 by telephone and face-to-face, while the quantitative while the quantitative study was conducted on a representative sample of 7,000 European respondents via the internet from December 8 to 18, 2017.
Copyright “Survey of financial services in the smart city, conducted by Novametrie and the Score Advisor website, in partnership with Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, RCI Bank and Services and Societe Generale”
“Survey of financial services in the smart city, conducted by Novametrie and the Score Advisor website, in partnership with Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, RCI Bank and Services and Societe Generale”
