©2022BostonConsultingGroup1Globally,financialinstitutions(FIs)arespendingbillionsofdollarseveryyearpursuingdigitaltransformation.Buttherearevastdifferencesinhowtheyinvestinthistransformation—andthereturnsonthoseinvestments.WecalculatethatifallFIsworldwideweretoreachthehighestlevelofdigitalmaturity,theycouldcollectivelygrowrevenuesby$100billionperyearforthenextdecade.Todevelopamorenuancedunderstandingofthislandscape,weleveragedtheBCGDigitalAccelerationIndexstudytoanalyzenearly250FIsfromAsia,Europe,andNorthAmericatoanswerafundamentalquestion:Doeshavingadigitalstrategyinplaceimproveperformance?Ourfindingswereunequivocal.Thebestperformersarethosethatestablishacleardigitalstrategyfromtheoutsettoguidetheirefforts.Theirinvestmentshaveresultedinhigherrevenueandearningsaswellasloweroverallcostscomparedtocompetitors.Thisfindingmighthavebeensomewhatexpected.Whatwasunexpected,however,wasthepoorperformanceoffinancialinstitutionsthatpursuedigitalinitiativeswithoutaguidingstrategy—evencomparedtothosethataren’tpursuingorhavejustbegundigitalinitiatives.Thesecompaniesneedtotakeimmediatestepstocoursecorrect.TheFiveArchetypesSomeFIsareclearlyattheforefrontofdigitization,scalingtheirdigitalinitiativesandreapingthebenefits.Byleadingwithastrongdigitalstrategy,theyattract,retain,andinspiretalent—andhavetherightguardrailsinplaceforsound,consistentdecisionmaking.ButmanyFIsaredevelopingdigitalinamorescattershotmanner.Theyhavelaunchedindividualdigitalinitiativeswithoutastrongdigitalstrategy.Thus,theyhavedifficultyscalingtheseinitiatives,WinningFinancialInstitutionsBuildonDigitalStrategyOCTOBER12,2022ByOliverKude,AlexanderStang,MichaelLeyh,andZhuoLi©2022BostonConsultingGroup2whichoenatrophyovertimebeforevaluecanbecreated.Thesefindingsholdimportantlessonsforthosejustbeginningtheirdigitaltransformationjourneys.FIsthatlaunchindividualdigitalinitiativeswithoutastrongdigitalstrategyhavedifficultyscalingandcreatingvaluefromthem.Aspartofourresearch,weidentifiedfiveFIarchetypes—Frontrunne...