The digitalization of the Swiss financial sector, which is lagging far behind, also depends on banks' ability to rethink their culture and priorities. For Dorothée Borca Dumortier, they need to learn how to streamline customer paths and build coherent, transparent and frictionless digital experiences. In an environment where speed, personalization and data are redefining the rules of the game, they now need to combine technological agility with relational intelligence.
In Deloitte's recent global ranking on digital and banking, Switzerland dropped to 27th place. How do you explain this alarming drop?
This ranking reflects a reality: Switzerland may excel in the areas of security and compliance, but it has been slow to invest in user experience and technological agility. Yet the stakes are colossal. Between now and 2048, some 85,000 billion dollars will be transferred between generations. The heirs to these fortunes have radically different expectations when it comes to the digital experience. Banks and financial institutions that don't transform now simply risk missing the boat.
To what extent is the legacy of core banking systems holding back the digitization of financial services in Switzerland?
It's holding back considerably, but not insurmountably. The real problem isn't technical - in my opinion, it's more cultural and organizational. Banks need to change their mindset to "think customer", constantly seeking to remove any friction in the customer journey, without letting themselves be limited by technical constraints. Many Swiss banks still lack a fully digitized end-to-end process for opening accounts, losing customers during the entire onboarding cycle. Too many institutions seem to be waiting for the perfect solution, rather than adopting a modular approach. At IG, we've made the opposite choice: favoring progress over perfection, with an open architecture supporting sophisticated APIs, multiple protocols such as FIX or Bloomberg EMSX, and progressive integration that enables real-time solutions. Legacy is circumvented by agility and a pragmatic approach focused on the user experience.
What distinguishes today's digital champions in financial services, and more specifically in wealth management?
Three elements make the difference: speed of execution and decision-making, the ability to personalize the experience of each customer thanks to intelligent exploitation of data, and above all, the creation of virtuous cycles where each interaction generates value and strengthens the customer relationship. But what really separates the champions from the rest is their value proposition. It must be clear, differentiating, and immediately perceptible to the customer. In wealth management, tomorrow's winners will be those who orchestrate digital ecosystems where advice, trading and data analysis are seamlessly integrated - while delivering a flawless user experience at every touchpoint.
Where do you think IG Bank is furthest ahead?
Our lead lies in two concrete areas. First, real-time execution. Our customers trade over 17,000 financial instruments with minimal latency and transparency of price and execution. Secondly, product innovation: we are currently developing a completely rethought approach to customer segmentation, based on real engagement rather than static criteria. This is our strategic direction - to create an experience that evolves with customer activity and rewards engagement, not just asset volume.
Deloitte stresses the need for a "mobile-first mindset" and a "future-proof" user experience. How is this to be understood?
Mobile-first" doesn't simply mean adapting a website to a smaller screen. It means designing the complete experience for users who expect instant responsiveness, instinctive navigation, and above all, seamless continuity between mobile, desktop and API. "Future proof" means building an architecture that adapts to emerging behaviors - voice, AI agents, embedded finance - without a complete overhaul with each innovation. Embedded finance means integrating trading services directly into other applications, such as your asset management tool, without ever leaving them. These trends will continue to develop. It's imperative that banks remain relevant to a generation that has grown up with Netflix, Uber and Amazon.
How are you concretely working on the fluidity, personalization and conformity of your digital pathways?
We have embarked on an in-depth project in three simultaneous areas, with the obsession of thinking customer-first. Firstly, fluidity. We have launched a systematic mapping of our customer paths to identify and eliminate friction. Our approach is to question every superfluous click, every redundant form, every unjustified delay. The customer must reach his goal in the shortest possible time and in the fewest possible steps. Next, personalization. We focus on delivering the right analytical content at the right time. Our analysts produce rich content - market analyses, sector outlooks, webinars - and our challenge is to deliver it in a way that is relevant to each customer's interests and activity. Finally, compliance. We are in the process of accelerating our digital KYC/AML processes, with the aim of reducing time and complexity for the customer, while maintaining regulatory rigor. The challenge is to transform what is perceived as an administrative burden into a fluid step in the customer journey. This is where UX makes all the difference.
The Deloitte study also highlights the strategic role of personalization in converting digital interactions into revenue. At IG Bank, how do you approach customer data and artificial intelligence to achieve this?
We are working to develop a pragmatic and progressive approach. Artificial intelligence at IG must serve three measurable objectives. Anticipating customer behavior, optimizing interactions, and personalizing the experience. As an execution-only digital platform, we don't make investment recommendations, but we do offer rich analytical content produced by our analysts. AI will enable us to deliver the right content at the right time - be it market analysis, webinars or sector insights - so that every trader can make informed decisions. The key is not to accumulate data - it's to build the systems that turn it into concrete business actions that generate measurable revenue, while reinforcing the customer's perceived value proposition.
What needs to change quickly for Swiss asset managers - private banks, multi-offices, independent asset managers, etc. - to finally discover their vocation as "digital champions"?
Digital must become a strategic priority on a par with portfolio performance. For independent managers and family offices, this means investing in solutions that automate reporting, simplify data aggregation and streamline compliance. All of which frees up time for high value-added advisory services.
We also need to rethink success indicators. Integrate customer-centric KPIs: Net Promoter Score, digital platform adoption rates, satisfaction by path. These metrics must be integrated into strategic dashboards. What isn't measured isn't improved.
Finally, you have to accept that you can't build everything on your own. The build versus buy dilemma needs to be resolved pragmatically: develop core competencies, but open up massively to partnerships for the rest. API banking, asset visualization tools, enhanced reporting solutions - everything already exists.
The urgency is there. The explosive growth of neo-banks that are breaking with traditional codes shows that expectations have changed radically. If the Swiss industry does not transform itself in the next 2-3 years, this capital will migrate elsewhere. Switzerland has always been able to reinvent itself - watchmaking did it, pharma did it. Private banking can do it too.