Moving Into The Future

Three experts in their respective fields tell us how we could be banking, shopping and travelling in time to come.

- Charmaine Tai

Finance

Anil Chawla, founder of Clix Capital

ANIL CHAWLA, THE founder of Clix Capital and a Robb Report Thought Leader, is striving to not just change the way people use banking services, but also to push for tighter and more transparent legislations. Despite the digital market changes, he’s confident that human services won’t be obsolete in banking.

You’ve been in the banking industry for more than 30 years. How much has the industry changed and how do you think it’ll look in the next few years?

Anil Chawla (AC): The evolution in the last 30 years mostly revolved around the innovation of newer and exotic financial products. As the world became richer, there was a greater need for products like asset- and mortgage-backed securities. This was what contributed to the financial meltdown in 2009.

The next 30 years will be marked by rendering services using technology. We’re currently using it to make payments, but technology is maturing fast and the current model will plateau in around five years. What used to be the business model for share brokerages (earning a fee) is now challenged by a new clan of entrepreneurs who thinks that the brokerage service should be free for consumers. Floating interest is the new revenue stream.

Financial services will increasingly get disintegrated further, especially with the rise of consumer platforms like WeChat and WhatsApp that were primarily used for communicating and will become financial services behemoths. Taps, clicks and swipes will be the new sounds of money.