Human Resources Development for the Use of Big Data Analytics in the Customer Business of German Banks

Introduction

The German banking system traditionally consists of three pillars, private sector banks, public savings banks and cooperative banks. This structure makes the German banking system unique (Behr & Schmidt, 2015; Frank et al., 2014; Komorowski, 2020). Until about 25 years ago, almost all European countries had a so-called three-pillar banking system consisting of private banks, public savings banks and cooperative banks. Since then, several European countries have made far-reaching changes in their banking systems, which have mainly affected the two pillars of savings banks and cooperative banks (Bülbül et al., 2013). The focus of this article is on the survey of experts from the two banking groups savings banks (pillar 02) and cooperative banks (pillar 03), which are shown in colour in Figure 1. There are many similarities between the two banking groups. Both belong to the so-called retail banks. The respective bank customers are very similar in terms of the type of customers due to the regional principle, the structure in regional associations. The private banks (pillar 01 and greyed out) are not taken into account because they do not add any value to the research project due to their structure and clientele.

Figure 1.

“The German Banking System” based on Giebe, Löffler & Menrad (2022)

In the last decade, the influence of new digital technologies has had a major impact. The so-called digital transformation describes the integration of digital technologies into all business processes (Liu et al., 2011). The use and integration of new digital technologies is one of the biggest challenges currently facing companies. No company can defend itself against the effects of digital transformation. The potential is market-changing and often bigger than sales channels, business processes or supply chains. Often, entire business models are reshaped. As a result, digital transformation has taken on a very high priority at the executive level. In the US and UK, for example, 90% of executives expect digital technologies to make a growing strategic contribution in the coming years. The question is no longer when companies will give digital transformation a high priority, but rather how (Hess et al., 2016). In many sectors, from industry to science, one can observe a “digital transformation” along the various value chains. Companies' activities are carried out with a growing amount of information, both internally and externally. Likewise, companies increasingly believe in information-based stimuli to promote innovation, solve problems or improve processes (Kauffman & Weber, 2018).

The digital transformation has also become a reality for the financial services industry. Three forces are massively influencing the German banking system, a low interest rate level, regulatory tightening and digitalization. Traditional business models are under pressure, revenues and profits are declining. Traditional financial institutions will have to cede part of the market to financial technology (FinTech) companies, for example (Komorowski, 2020). The term FinTech is composed of the initial syllables of financial services and technology. They are considered to be one of the most important innovations in the financial industry and are developing rapidly. FinTech is the industry in which financial services are transformed with the help of technology. This happens, among other things, through the exchange of information via information technology. FinTechs promise to reshape the financial sector and improve the quality of financial services. Technological innovations in the areas of Big Data, data analysis and mobile devices enable FinTech start-ups to support traditional banks with personalised services. Thus, FinTechs offer a wide range of services with added value for banks and savings banks (Gai et al., 2018; Lee & Shin, 2018). There is much discussion about the possible disruptive effects of digitalization on the future viability of existing business models. A transformation of entire industrial sectors and the economy as a whole can be assumed. It can be seen that value chains are breaking up and reconfiguring themselves (Brühl, 2019).