This pandemic will most certainly drastically increase digitalization of banking systems. After pandemic digitalization will increase even faster and number of people working from home will be high. As money as cash is now considered as 'dirty' money, there are increasing percetange of people using credit cards and my predictions that this trend will remain or increase even more in the near future, at least while this pandemic is present. COVID-19 has definitely started avalanche towards e-commerce.

Everyone knows that the trust in banks has been damaged for a long time. It seems that there is no middle point in this case, a situation that can be turned against or in favor of banks.

If banks act customer-oriented and keep their credit channels open and do things like decrease interest rates and ease of payment, this will be in their favor in the future.

The situation we are in is very critical for every sector, especially for banks. If they do not act wisely in this situation and continue to be selfish, it will be a big disappointment for them.

The current Covid-19 crisis tends to further accelerate the process of digitalization of banking activities. This process had been initiated for many years by the banking sector. However, I think that the banking sector is making a mistake by constantly increasing the dematerialization of its operations and by closing many branches. This can increase the profits of the banking sector in the short term by saving structural costs but in the long term it is disastrous. The saver needs face-to-face advice and local service. The banking network that will understand this first and return to real quality service activity will win the day.

It is my opinion that after this pandemic, there will certainly be change in various spheres of society and business. Of course we cannot know exactly how much it will affect banking system,but I can give the assumption that it certainly will go in terms of reducing the need of coming to the bank personally. Replacement of paper currency for cryptocurrency will certainly happen in the near future.

We are talking about digitization which is something already happening and quite sure to continue in future as well.

India has been a frontrunner in digital payment space now and has been experimenting with different branchless models also in the past, but could not get rid of the brick and mortar branches due to many reasons such as financial literacy, awareness, connectivity etc. The paper less money in the form of plastic money and now in the form of UPI etc is there and people are becoming comfortable with it, however, the developing world is yet to get these things taken down to the roots of where the masses live. Crypto currency is a distant things to talk about in this developing world. it looks good only in the urban discussions.

The COVID-19 situation will definitely leave a big scar on our banking sector. Other than the obvious event of people turning to online baking systems and starting to trust this type of banking what are the other consequences? For a start we can notice a large drop in the interest rates and this is followed by a drop in mortgage value. We are also witnessing a drop in the value of bank stock. Banks have also inquired the cost of providing their employees with the ability to work from home. But there is one thing that the banks can do and that is build strong relations with businesses. All of the businesses will need money now and banks must be there for them. The full consequences of Coronavirus are still unknown but the economy is in a free fall now and it is up to the banks to catch it.

This topic demands lot of discussions. The scenario will be different for developed and developing countries.

I'm giving my opinion about Bangladesh as a developing country.

In Bangladesh mobile banking already reached to large number of people in remote areas than traditional banks. In this pandemic situation, the trend of mobile transaction is more widely spread. Few banks focus on mobile banking wing than regular wings (though mobile banking wing mostly treated as subsidiaries) . However, Plastic money or cryptocurrencies is impossible to trade beyond two to three major cities with present internet infrastructure.

Other than digitization, all government declared incentive packages will processes through traditional banking systems. People do not have any other choice than standing long lines in brick-and-mortar banks.

Look forward to read others opinion.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, a part ofthe population has lost their jobs, since they cannot carry out their work activities. This implies that they do not have their main source of income, with which many families are being or will be forced to subsist on their savings. This puts the balance of the banks in a delicate situation, which could trigger bank runs, as people are preparing to withdraw the money saved from their deposits. Since this is a multitude of people claiming their money in a very short time, it can trigger a liquidity crisis for the banks, which in this case would not affect one single bank, but thousands of them in different countries, and a global banking crisis could develop.

This exceptional situation has forced banks to provide moratoriums to all types of loans.As the economic cycle of the countries are at halt there is no demand for the products and services other than food supplies and FMCG. Other industries like manufacturing, vehicle, industrial supplies,real estate ,cement ,steel ,minerals etc are facing extreme crunch as they are unable to manufacture and sell their products.

As these industries run mostly by taking term loans and working capital loans from Banks they are unable to repay the monthly interest as a result the revenue generation for the Banks has taken the back seat. Therefore the NIM or Net Interest Margin for Banks will fall down which leads to losses and job cuts .

For our country and many others similar by development , the aftermath of this in the banking sector could be in some degree beneficial,being a potential turning point into a much more digitalized system where plastic,crypto and online servicing could advance from being a foreign concept to being a necesity.This will be a very difficult and slow process with alot of factors slowing it down even more,with an example of the elderly being unfamiliar with a moderately digitalized brick and mortar bank.Doing banking through the internet would be walking into the dark for them.But as many experts advise,at times of uncertainty the biggest advances can be made.

Customer service should be the banks highest priority by my opinion because they need to know that theyre advisors and servicers really care and are there for them during these troubleing times

This period will definitelly set a tone for the future of the banking sector and the real problems havent even surfaced yet

Banking will be affected more than most industries with the pandemic. While most of the answers above discuss the fintech or digitalization aspects, i.e., the move away from physical currency, there is behaviors that will last. Interesting the use of cash continues to increase even with apps like Venmo, PayPal etc. Regarding virtual currencies, as there is much hype, there still hasn't been a compelling use case that tips the scale in favor of their usage. Digital ledgers have a certain place, and will beneficially change banking and overall industry, but cryptos I have highly suspect. But back to banks, the asset side of the bank's balance sheet will be most affected, with weakening credit quality, payment deferrals, and the certainty of loan losses. Banks in the US have already increased their loan loss reserves by 500%, just in the last 90 days. And US banks are generally more leveraged than other nationals. I foresee a banking crisis which the Great Recession will pale in comparison.

Covid pandemic is going to affect the banking sector in many ways. Although some of those ways are going to be good for the banking sector, some of them are not going to be so good. When it comes to the good ways of pandemic affecting the banking sector, I think that this includes the fact that a lot of people are loosing their businesses and companies so when this is over, they are going to need money to restart their businesses and they are going to ask for loans to help them do this. Where else to go for a loan than a bank. On the other hand when it comes to the bad ways how pandemic can influence the banking sector, I think that this includes a lot of people loosing their jobs during this pandemic and not being able to pay the installments for their existing loans. This is a great loss for the banking sector during the pandemics.

Considering the digitalized banking, I think that this pandemic is going to push it towards more usage as well as it is going to popularize "touch-less" money. The reason for this is that people are getting used to this banking during the pandemic and when they realize that it is a much easier way of banking, they are probably going to continue with it. Furthermore, popularization of the "touch-less" money is is going to grow as well, since people are going to get paranoid about touching the money because of all the bacteria that are on it and the fact that a lot of people have touched that money before them.

I have no doubt that on the back end of crisis there will be a ton of transformation efforts. Even before covid 19, the banking industry have taken some steps about 'becoming digital'. But, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, everything changed overnight. Lot of business organization were under pressure of Covid 19, but some of them use advantage of covid19 and have make some changes and innovate without knowing when life will get back to 'normal'. Organization were forced providing consumers digital banking alternatives. Though banks are not being hit by pandemic as directy as other institutions, their stability is crucial to keep the system up and running. Thousands of consumers are now being placed under lockdown. As result, they might lose ability to pay for credit. Even, business loans, especially to small industries are at risk due to forced shutdown. I think, even after the coronavirus passes, digital solutions for banks will have an enduring relevance and traditional banks that choose to learn and take lesons from digital financial institutions will find themseves more prepared to compete with challenger banks during and after coronavirus pandemic.

I think crisis is always a source of innovation. The recent COVID’19 pandemic has changed the way the businesses are working. Banking sector is already transformed by providing different ways to bank like internet banking, SMS banking, ATMs, Mobile Banking etc.

Following are major consequences of COVID’19:

· These digital channels are now more promoted or utilized to prevent person to person contact.

· Low business volume

· Low consumer financing

· Regulators banned the issue of fresh currency notes

· Brick and Mortar way of banking are operational with reduced timings.

· Managerial approach is changed i.e., more virtual meetings are conducted instead of personal meetings.

Every situation that we face has a positive and a negative side effect.

This covid pandemic is I think leading us only to bad decisions. I am aware of the situation and everything,but isn't it just a little bit too much ? We have other things also for which the numbers aren't even shown,but for this pandemic it is such a big deal...

Anyway it affected us in that kind of way that people are loosing jobs because the companies can't pay them their salaries. It means that when people are not making money,the banking sector is also affected,and when the whole economy is affected there is noone actually that will make money right? So why are people doing this and literally destroying everything around themselves?

Yes,we will come to a period in the future when everything will be digitalized,but in some countries right now,that is already normal. People are not even paying with cash in the stores,but with their phones. It was just a matter of time when it will come to our country.

After this,nothing will be the same. It affected everything. Banks are loosing as much as entrepreneurs are loosing,and all we can do is start now figuring out what to do in the future,how will our business grow(if we have one),how will we get a job,how will we make money,and the banks can't just help everyone.

If the economy is sinking,everything goes with it,and we only have left the banks,they can't take everything on their back,already they are trying to help the companies,but until when?

Dear Professor,

A really complex issue that can be viewed from two different angles - those who have managed to turn this situation to their advantage and those who have been banned from work and who are at a loss. What happened at the beginning of the pandemic was that people wanted to withdraw their savings from the banks so that the banks were left without a large sum of real money. Also, if the bank has decided to create some relief for its clients, it thus gains the trust of clients, but also the current loss of money that should have reached the bank in the form of interest on the loan. Large funds at the entity levels have been allocated for protective equipment, health care. The benefits created for companies, employees and retirees will have consequences for the state's economy in terms of the subsequent repayment of these benefits. The debt that B&H has incurred when it comes to the IMF, I think it will be much harder to repay than to spend that money.

Dear professor,

Thank you for this great question that provided us with the opportunity to exchange oppinions about this topic. I believe that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect banking sector in both positive and negative ways. Many people lost their jobs, which creates money defficiency and leads to less spending which will over time create loss in profits for banks . It is already known that this situation will lead to global crisis that will affect every segment of economy which is another negative impact. On the other hand, this pandemic situation has already led to popularisation of touch less money and digital banking which benefits banks that work hard on improving digitalized banking. Another benefit for banks will come after the pandemic - many companies will have to take loans from banks in order to compensate for their losses. Banks will use this situation to create special offers which will benefit them over time.

Banking are not at the origin of the crisis ignited by coronavirus. However, the restart of the economy and its restructuring depends heavily on banks and their resources. In most cases it is a big necessity that governments stay ready to extend guarantees to credit opened to companies and specially designed rescue mechanisms, such as resolution or deposit insurance funds should be ready to assist.

It's really a very complex topic. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has schocked and stopped the global supply chain, including all economic sectors, and increased government debt, thus it made the shortage of liquidity of firms, and finally soared the banking liabilities. BIS has just recently published one new BIS bulletin entitled with the impact of the COVID-19 on the Banking sector.

Here is my reply

Respected professor,

Retail banking is already changing sharply as a result of corona epidemic. People leave home less often, and be far less likely to visit branches. Banks will need to decide which branches remain open, and how to keep those environments safe for employees and customers. Banks like Intesa and UniCredit in Italy, and Commerzbank and HypoVereinsbank in Germany, have already closed many branches. Similarly, the big Canadian banks are closing some branches and reducing operating hours at others. That will mean that some customers become cut off from banking services. Also, cash use has fallen because the virus spreads through person to person contact, fears that notes and coins can spread the virus are natural and justified. The virus can persist for days on surfaces. The World Health Organization has said that contactless payments could reduce the risk of transmission. Combined with social distancing and a slowing economy, a fear of contagion will further reduce cash use in many countries. Contactless payments are better, until you have to enter a PIN. Digital payments are best of all.

Also, loans and non-preforming loans (loans in which the borrower has not made repayments of principal or interest for at least 90 days) of the banking industry will be affected which will have an effect on earnings. Monetary measures to lower Statutory Reserve Requirement (amount of money set aside by a financial institution), overnight interest rates and re-classifcation of non-preforming loans will have a positive impact on Bank's earnings. The cost of funds and provisions for non-preforming loans will not have such a drastic impact on banks' earnings. The credit administration process in loan approval is important as most loans are subjected to credit guidelines like single customer limit, industry exposure and collateral. The recovery process of non-preforming loans might take time but the exposure will not be significant.

Dear professor,

firstly, thank you for such a good question. It is for sure that after pandemic COVID-19, the whole situation will be quite different than it was pre-pandemic. For example, changing the way how people bank, the future of work, the use of modern technology which is going to be "new normal". WHO (World Health Organization) for example, has advised people to avoid handling banknotes as much as possible, because the virus can "live" on those banknotes for days, accelerating the spread of the COVID-19. So, people are starting to use E-banking or Digital Banking, not just because they do not want to expose themselves to danger, but also because of those certain security measures of citizens.

Since the virus is still spreading all around the world, companies and borrowers are facing job losses, decreased sales, and profit. They will probably look for help in government agencies and banks.

Bank agents provide real-time talking with clients and helping them to complete the entire process accurately.

Even after this pandemic, digital solutions for banks will be of lasting importance.

Touch-less money has became popular for only one reason, and that is the convenience of using it. But there is a down side to it, it is so vulnerable to cyber attacks. This could have been seen in the cyber attack on Capital One in march-july 2019. An attack that saw data of over 106 million users stolen, this has shown the large vulnerability of any digital money. With the advent of quantum processors in late December of 2019 that is slowly rendering current encryption algorithms useless is showing that unless payment processors and banks invest large, and I mean large sums of money into developing effective measures to protect them and their customers data from hackers a cashless society is unlikely. Alternatively with private companies like Paypal, Visa and MasterCard being the premier payment processors in the world this raises another question and that is users data and privacy. Data on peoples purchase habits is very valuable not only for companies but for governments as well. This data coupled with Ai can list probabilities of future behavior of that person. And with that we might see a dystopian future of minority report pre-crime-esque systems or the dystopian today that is the social credit system in China. Trusting private companies and governments not to use that type of data to increase their power or leverage would be utterly unwise. Increasingly with the situation of MasterCard deplatforming right-wing personalities, and forcing Paypal, Patreon and similar services to do the same thing, because they breached MasterCard’s ever changing terms of service is concerning. Without a digital bill of rights these private companies hold ultimate power over consumers and with these companies having power to deplatform you just because you insulted someone of the higher-up in those companies, with an explanation that you breached their terms of service, that coincidentally changed just the day before. The situation with Alex Jones is yet another pointer on the dystopian future that these payment processors want. With their newest change of their terms of service indirectly targeting such journalists and outlets. The newest terms of service might as well just spelled out that they don’t allow people to do transactions with Alex Jones or any of his companies. This is where convenience borders with utter breach of civil rights and privacy. Ofcourse there are alternatives to these services but, if you look in your wallet right now you either have a MasterCard, Visa or an American Express card, due to government regulation it is really expensive to set up a new payment processor and this is efectivelly giving these three companies an oligopoly over the banking industry.

Concerning crypto, sadly, you still cannot go into a bakery and buy a loaf of bread with bitcoin. I mean there is nothing stopping you from opening a bakery and accepting crypto, but you cant pay the bills with crypto. But again quantum processors bring the whole of the crypto market in danger. Currently the ECDSA encryption algorithm that is being used, is doing okay against current first generation quantum processors, but an update is needed in the near future, and this update might see bitcoin forking again. The decentralized system is a great concept, but so is anarcho-capitalism, nut just like anarcho-capitalism its nearly impossible to implement it. Banks and payment processors will not give up their power without a fight, because of this it is safely to say that crypto will not become a common place payment method, at least for the following 2-4 years. Crypto, outside of the fringes of the internet is not really being used everyday. Second point is the liquidity of crypto, for underdeveloped countries like Bosnia and Hertzegovina. In Bosnia outside of a few thousand people it is unlikely to find someone willing to buy crypto.

Also you must keep in mind that in underdeveloped and undeveloped countries, whose governments are tied in with the criminal underground, going cashless will make their illicit dealings more open to investigation, as in their transactions being tractable. We can safely assume that the governments in these countries will fight against going cashless.

In my own opinion, if we are not careful with a cashless society we might just end up in a dystopian cyberpunk future where if you are not praising the government and the private company behind it you might just be unable to buy bread for yourself.

Dear professor,

The banking sector is significantly changing in the world, especially in the countries like Bosnia where people are accustomed to going in banks and getting their paycheck or paying bills. And covid-19 is only going to speed things up, by forcing people to use mobile applications and to pay their bills and receive their paychecks online which in the end will increase the amount of touch-less money in the system and encourage people to use that kind of money for their day-to-day basis and ditch the regular paper money that is currently in use.

This situation is definitely going to transfer most of the people to the online banking system and it is a huge possiblity that those people will continue to use that kind of system even after the pandemic is over. But this doesn't necessarily mean that we will ditch the regular banking system and the old fashioned way of dealing things with the bank, it only applies that that kind of system will decrease largely due to the pandemic and the overall development of technology.

In the end, this will lead to larger use of touch-less money where there will only be numbers on the screen and not paper bills in hand. This also means that people will use cryptocurrencies more and the main example is the rise of bitcoin in the last year as a leading cryptocurrency on the market, so people are probably going to invest and buy more cryptocurrencies which in the end leads to more touch-less money in the market.

Dear professor ,

In my opinion , sitation after the pandemic will be very bad in every aspect of soceity and economy because we already feel its concequences. People are not able and will not be able in a long period of time to repay their debts that they have in banks. Many people run a business by taking the loan from the bank and returing it through time by running their business and earning money . Since the pandemic , most of the business must be shout down which is terrible. Banks will feel a big impact because of those reasons . Digitalization did ineed increased much , but that is not someting that whole population can use. Older people have hard time catching up with digitalization. This digitalization is not someting that popluation of our contry will handle easily .

Economy will take a long time to recover, and resultant failure of businesses and defaults to banks.

Dear professor,

Bank's stability during this pandemic is crucial to keep the system up and running. Like many other sectors, they will also have many consequences due to the pandemic. Although there will be many negative consequences, there will be some positive sides to this situation. I will start with the positive side. We all know that digitalization is advancing very fast day by day and is more and more present in our lives. During this situation, people will be more used to digitalized banking offers. They will realize how digitalization facilitates the way they work and save their time, and maybe they will use it more than before. On the other side, tens of thousands of consumers will lose their ability to pay for credit and this can cause problems to banks. Many banks lowered interest rates, but if the pandemic lasts longer than it is predicted, it can cause problems to banks because interest rate payments are an essential income for them.

Dear Professor,

The impact of COVID-19 will, for sure, be enormous, but not only in a negative way. As we can hear on TVs, radios, and read on portals, opinions are divided regarding this topic, but I believe that people are meant to make the best of any situation. Digitalization would happen anyways, with COVID-19 it is just accelerated. I disagree with some of my colleagues that the population won't easily handle the digitalization process. I believe, our people and people, in general, need more education considering these areas, and the fear from digitalization arises from lack of understanding of the technology and its benefits. Moreover, people are scared of the unemployment rate that may be increased by the process of digitalization, but if people invest in their education and knowledge regularly, and update themselves, everyone could easily switch to a job position which is "more digitalized". This is why we have to invest in higher education primarily. The government should propose scholarships and benefits for people who update their education through courses and etc. I don't think that we won't have personnel in the banks and that all will be automated because it is in the nature of people to have face-to-face contacts and to socialize. What will for sure come out of this situation, is the touch-less banking, online banking, m-banking which will be used more, as it already was present before the virus, but not this widely spread. Cryptocurrencies will also be a topic that will be known to the wider public, as up to now it was only familiar to some. Of course, there will always be groups who will only see the negative impact of these new trends and people who will be furious about what is coming, but our grandparents were afraid of phones, wireless technology, and now, not many years later it is a normal thing. Our forebears were afraid of electricity when it was introduced to them. I will repeat myself now, the fear of people is not the problem if we strive to educate both the younger and older population.

The banking sector will be the last one that will suffer from the consequences of the virus since many people will now raise loans to survive and to save their businesses. By implementing digitized and remote customer transactions, banks can ensure to carry out everyday processes with limited disruptions. In the example of Bank of Korea, where they kept money isolated for two weeks and disinfecting any physical notes, we may see the introduction of the cryptocurrency era. Countries with a stronger economy will by imitating the countries that introduce cryptocurrencies as a formal way of transactions, spread this trend worldwide. Banks now have the opportunity to support the market and economy and return to stability. I believe that many banks will use this in a negative way and that many affairs may arise, but I hope that banks will retain their reputation by helping the economy now when it is the most needed.

Taking in the consideration of fact where are we as a community standing with online banking system, it is easy to conclude that this pandemic situation will have an impact on our banking system. With all the preventive measures saying that we should stay at home, going to the bank in person is something that should be avoided definetely. But what is the alternative? It is online banking system, that are is not so common among us. With this being said, banking system will definetely suffer. Will we be able to catch up with this digitized way of operating, if necessery, is something that could be discussed.

Dear professor,

In my opinion, the banking sector will have the highest responsibility now, to save the economy and businesses. The consequences it may feel are both positive and negative. The positive one is an accelerating rate of digitalization, which may yield faster transactions, a more updated way on banking, and jump into the new era of banking. Cryptocurrencies will be more known and used. Even though banks nowadays decreased the interest rates for their clients to be able to pay off debts, later on, they will find the way to increase them after people raise loans to save their businesses, houses and etc. Not every bank is able to follow the trends that will come and not every bank will survive what is coming, but those banks who stay and survive this, will for sure grow much faster and in the end, we will have banks who will run the greatest part of the economy. When talking about job losses, there will, of course, be some job losses, but in the banking sector, not that large portion as in other sectors. Staff will be needed to attend certain courses and training to follow the new situation, but that is something that should be normal. Contact-less banking is the best trend that will now be spread, it has many benefits, from the speed of transactions to health prevention. On the other hand, people's opinions about banks will for sure fluctuate, many will see them as our greatest enemies, and also many banks will use this situation for their own interest. I believe that this will be an interesting new chapter for the banks, but also for the world itself.

Good afternoon,

In my opinion, I do not believe that a global pandemic of this kind will change people's consumption habits. As we have seen, people continue to walk the streets in spite of the danger, and there are many habits such as shopping that have not been changed to any great extent. What I mean is that if many small habits have not been changed, I don't think that other larger ones will either, such as using cryptomoney instead of paper money.

To predict something like this is quite hard, but sometimes predictions do come true, so my two cents on this discussion are as follows:

This sudden crisis forced us to change our ways of doing many everyday life things, aswell as banking! This showed us that it is actually possible to do everything we did in banks, online.

But I am quite sure that the world is still not ready for this way of banking to become permanent! It is a huge shift in the world of economy and finance. Therefore, this situation will surely be a step forward to using "touch-less" money, cryptocurrencies and similar stuff, but not yet will we have fully digitalized banking!

Dear professor,

I do not believe that banking is going to become fully digitalized in our country in the near future, maybe pandemic and post-pandemic period will bring along one step forward to digitalizing, but personally I do not believe that cryptocurrencies are going to become much more popular than before the pandemic. Younger generations are already used to it, but I believe it is going to make much more time for the society to become fully digitalized.

The situation is aggravated by the growth of corporate debts because after the financial crisis in 2008, companies based their expansion on excessive borrowing using "cheap money", because governments and central banks sought to help the economy with various incentives such as "quantitative easing".

Using low interest rates, companies issued bonds to expand their business.

Now the bill can be collected and thus increase the economic damage and further shake the financial markets.There will be changes in banking system. Digitalization will be more popular and widely used. I think in near future this can lead to cryptocurrencies.

Dear professor,

I believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has already made a slight impact on our banking system, especially with the youth of our country which is more familiar with this new technology. I have found out that the older individuals are struggling to cope with this new aspect of banking as they experience fear of someone "stealing their money through the internet". In the western world, the COVID-19 pandemic might give birth to a new way of banking which includes cryptocurrencies and touch-less money. In fact, many citizens of developed countries have complete trust in their banking systems, which includes online banking and touch-less money transactions.

While in our country, I believe that the old fashioned way will still be around, more or less, despite any epidemic, pandemic or a third type of crisis.

On the flip side, new generations are extremely fond of touch-less money, have quite an interest in new cryptocurrencies and approve of the online banking system. This fact gives hope that our small country - with quite a conservative opinion of digitalization; especially older people - might have a better future in regard to online banking, cryptocurrencies and touch-less money.

Since the begining of pandemic WHO (World Health Organization) is advicing people to use contactless payment during shopping and avoiding handling money because microorganismis (including corona virus) can be transmitted by paper and metal money too. Also, some of advices are social distancing, which can also has impact on traditional banking habits and conversation between bankers and customer. We can notice that before corona virus crisis, demand for digital banking was increasing during time-because of lifestyle and less amount of time for „physicall banking“. From my point of view, Corona virus is just stimulating banks all over the world to educating their employees and working on their online platforms to make every banking service available online, because digital solutions will have their relevance even after end of pandemic and I also think that more options in digital banking should be our future either with or without corona virus.

It affects in numerous ways...Moratoriums already been provided...new working capital facilities are being given for lesser rates...concessions on pawning...credit card payments etc. So, Int margins are lesser/sometimes negative, other incomes are reduced...Hence, profitability is adversely affected while NPAs may be increased in time to come...

Pandemic may affect the Banks and can witness spike in credit costs, non-performing assets in 2020

COVID-19 has already affected banking but they are doing their best to keep up. The World Health Organization has advised that cash transactions should be avoided. Cash is suitable for the spread of viruses and bacteria.The WHO proposes the use of contactless payment to reduce the manipulation and exchange of cash. Banks are trying to manage revenue and customer expectations, despite near-zero interest rates and growing pressure on consumers. And, they need to keep an eye on strategy and brand issues that will define their future, as market forces and customer behaviors potentially change coming out of this crisis.

They are following situation and acts accordingly, health of its clients and employees as well as maintaining business.

continuity.

The situation in which we found ourselves in forced people to focus more on digital way of life. Perhaps this change was not a shock to developed countries, but for our it definitely was. Online banking and card payment was new trend that has just started to develop in our country. Even if in this situation is much safer to use "touch-less" money, more people are making payments in traditional way, with cash.

In my opinion, pandemic will affect and make online banking more popular, but bank buildings will not completely disappear, at least not for a long time.

From my point of view, this whole situation with COVID-19 has brought us a lot of changes including changes in the banking sector. Some changes, which have been developed and created during this pandemic, are the ones that could be applied for the future period. As we are all aware, a lot of exemptions are very quickly developed and gave people safer and better access through online platforms to manage their needs. I am sure that we are going to face some new, quicker, and more effective ways of benefits, and also don't believe that we are going to have a fully digitalized banking system. The younger populations have better access and can be easily informed about this new "touch-less" money, and they can decide to manage their finances in this way, but generally, in my opinion, for the most, it will stay like it was even before COVID-19. It will not make some huge changes in the short-run.

Dear professor and colleagues,

Speaking globally, I think that this crisis caused by COVID-19 will affect banking system and move further towards digital systems and usage of informational technologies in order to decrease physical contacts between people.

For me, this consequence should be interpreted both as positive and negative. Positive from prospective of customers. For example, even before COVID-19 I have used mobile app for paying bills and it is even easier and save time.

At the same time, this increase of usage of informational technologies in banking systems could lead us towards cutting some working places and in some undeveloped countries such us Balkans countries, authorities probably will not have appropriate mechanisms and equipment to respond appropriate to these trends which lead to the increasing difference of standards of living between specific regions, what could resulted with higher wills of people from "undeveloped" countries to go abroat, to leave country etc.

At text that I will link at the end, which I have read since I was interested to research more about this topic, I have realised that "Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council ordered U.S. banks to test their online systems’ capacity to handle an influx of digital banking demands" what gives me a freedom to say yes as answer of this question.

Yes, this situation about COVID-19 moves banking system to digitalized one, and it is only question of time, when concrete results of those intentions will be visible globally.

Yes because if government bodies of economic giant such USA is, is ordering some instructions towards changes in financial world, it is only question of time, when all world will start to follow them.

For those who are interested in read a little bit more, as I was,

I suggest this article from which I have started and which not only lead me to some others in order to research and understand more, but also helped me to easier participate in this discussion:

https://www.lightico.com/blog/coronavirus-covid-19-and-the-banking-industry-impact-and-solutions/

This written represents only my personal oppinion and could be subject of discussion anytime, so I welcome you all to discuss and comment my observation.

Dear professor

In my opinion people will use digital banking in covid19 because they do not want to contact with eachother.

The COVID-19 will surely make a significant impact on the banking sector, and it will be much different than before the pandemic.

Since banks are providing funds to the individuals and the firms, they are considered as the heart of the economy. So the need for their liquidity is essential.

As we already know, the pandemic caused many firms to stop their operations, and many people lost their jobs. By losing jobs, most of them are lacking their primary source of income. So, since they don't have money to pay their credits, mortgages, banks are forced to lower the interest rates, increase the time to pay the loans, increase credit card limits, etc. All of this is impacting the banks since, in the end, it will affect their profits. But, since people and businesses are the leading bank clients, they need to do this to keep them, even at the cost of their profits.

At the other side, the COVID-19 is serving as a trigger for digitalizing the banking sector. Since the virus can be transmitted through money, many medical specialists are suggesting that we take extra protection measures while paying. So instead of risking being infected, people started using their cards more, trying new mobile payments, etc. For banks, this is an excellent opportunity to boost the digitalization of their services (for example, paying with smartwatch, smart-paying bracelets, etc.). But if they don't realize it at the right time, they will miss the opportunity for extra profits.

Sanel Halilbegovic Easly to say, no economic activities, no banking sales from the operation, and services. consequently low profitability.

Also, Some deposits will due, then the bank should payback the rewards as interests and this will cost the bank more than it gains.

In my opinion the whole thing with this "touch-less" money is just there, because of the government, so it can better spy on us. Without physical money every payment we get, every bill we pay, just everything we do with money would take online transactions. Everything we do will get noted and saved in form of data. With that I mind, do I really want that some one in the bank, or wherever the data gets, can see that I went to the barber or that bought some stuff in the bakery etc.. All in all I am not a big fan of "touch-less" money, because I think it is not necessary that someone can see what I do with all my money.

I noticed that most of comment are discussing cryptocurrencies. Before COVID-19 panademic, more and more sectors and large firms are interested in blockchain technology rather than cryptocurrencies. This technology has many applications that facilitate everyday life. I know that in Germany, for example, a telecommunications operator has invested heavily in blockchain technology to produce, and it's already done (I'm not sure but I think it's called the Pink card), a smart card that allows you to pay for all subscriptions, that is to say instead of having a subscription card for the library, one for the swimming pool, one for the cinema ... this card produced in each city allows you to have a unique identifier to make all these payments. Many other sectors use blockchain technology to undermine mediation and speed up procedures, of course the financial sector is the most interested in this technology but not only. For instance, the US government, namely the Justice Department, is also working closely with large companies specializing in blockchain technology to use it in tracking evidence and many other things in the crime world.

So I believe that blockchain technology will completely change the way we live and work especially in the current crisis, but this is not without cost, because we will need specialists in this field but in return, many others will lose their work which will no longer be necessary ...

There will be some changes in some segments. Yet cash and cashless transaction will coexist for a long term form now since the technology and psychological barriers remains in the developing world.

In my opinion it is hard to predict pandemic impact on banking sector. But things that will most probably occur are that banks will have to reduce interest rates. People have lost their jobs because of economic crisis caused by COVID-19 virus and they are one of the leading bank's clients and in order to keep them tey will have to do it, so that people and businesses can continue to use bank services. Also what can happen is improvement of mobile/online banking services because most of the people dont want to be in contact with others (to wait in the row so that can pay their bills). Instead, it all will be done using mobile phone or computer.

A number of bank employees are loosing jobs worldwide. In the economy too, cash flow is minimal.

It is more difficult to get a home loan.

No doubts banks will face problems of NPAs because businesses of people are affected due to lockdown. Lending rates would reduce and deposits will also fetch lower returns. Cashless transactions would be promoted now.

Sanel, your question raises some important issues about how institutions, not least of which are banks, interact with people and communities. One of the issues is whether, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, financial transactions will become more digitalised than they had ever been (i.e. before COVID-19). This had been a reality, especially in developed economies with highly sophisticated technological and banking application measures in place. However, even in these types of economies, not everyone is privileged to have access to such applications and gadgets or even internet access in the remotest areas. In less developed economies, some of which still make do with the physical use of money or even barter systems, the challenges of introducing digitalised banking, desirable as the latter may be, still remain to be resolved.

The impact of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (Covid-19 disease) pandemic on banking sectors in individual countries is usually large. This is mainly an indirect impact on commercial banking. Mainly the cyclical, secondary impact that comes from the decline in economic activity in other sectors and branches of the economy. On the other hand, the impact of central banking that stabilizes economic processes in the banking sector and indirectly in the entire economy depends on the issue of the real scale of independence of the central bank from other public and governmental institutions and whether the national or international currency operates in a given country. If the country has international currency, then the scope of application of specific monetary policy instruments used as anti-crisis policy tools is much smaller compared to the situation when the country has the national currency and the central bank has all the tools of a full monetary policy. I conduct research in this area. The conclusions of the research I published in scientific publications that are available on the Research Gate portal. I invite you to cooperation.

Greetings,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Corona virus situation will make big harm to banking sector. Why? Because many people lost their jobs, many people are scared to spend their money in this situation. And people who didn't lose their jobs will think twice before spending one penny. Basically people are scared, not just because of the chance of getting infected, but they are also scared because of the lack of money. Banks are going to be affected too, because nobody will want to get loan of 100.000$ to buy house or apartment. Nobody will want to get loan to buy a car. And this will be big deficit in banking sector. The biggest source of their business activities are loans.

Dear Sanel,

Though most stock markets (and oil prices) have nosedived recently, the transitory effects will have prolonged impacts on economies and companies’ earnings because of Covid-19 pandemic and health crisis.

This is also evidenced by the fact that the Fed decreased very recently interest rates to zero levels and the markets keep nosediving. This is an indication that markets are already far sighting and factoring the long-term impacts of current world events because of Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant health crisis.

I am afraid, but current world events will have major impacts on countries and companies’ earnings, which will definitely led to many bankruptcies worldwide.

The recovery from the economic impact of the Covid-19 health crisis will take lot of efforts and prolonged period of time.

I believe there will be potential and key research studies on the financial regulatory ecosystem as related to the Covid-19 health crisis.

For instance, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) that coordinate financial rules and regulatory issues as related to the G-20 economies has issued lately reports to address the financial stability implications of Covid-19.

This is the link to their latest reports:

https://www.fsb.org/

I hope it is useful

Best regards

Prof. Dr. Mazin A. M. Al Janabi

Full Professor of Finance & Banking and Financial Engineering

EGADE Business School, Tecnologico de Monterrey,

Santa Fe Campus, Mexico City, Mexico.

The banking sector seems to be badly affected. Yes, the digital payments methods like contactless cards would be promoted but this segment already facing tough competition from Digital Wallet service providers.

This is a two part question. On the payment side, yes there may be a transition to further contactless payments, but the use of cash also continues to rise, in developing and developed countries. While lots of talk of cryptos, which I have spoken and written on, I maintain the "use case" is still not there for transactional usage. Time will tell.

But the banks are going to be tremendously impacted by COVID, and the shutdown and "new behaviors" in the economy. Since the Great Recession, interest rates have remained low and borrowing levels are at historical highs. Leverage thru both private and public sectors has been ramped up, and with the slowdown, debt serviceability has been greatly reduced. Credit markets are already forecasting over half of corporate bonds go into "junk" status in the US, and that is indicative of the credit risk of loans on bank balance sheets. US banks are more leveraged that other sovereigns, which in part is why the Fed placed a moratorium on bank dividend payments and stock buybacks, which erode book equity. Certain industries have made high uses of leveraged finance, such as hotels/hospitality. Breakeven for hotels is typically at the 70% occupancy range, but major flags are at 20%. Simply, they are in a difficult spot. Bankruptcies will accelerate and as with other banking crises (which this will be), banks cut back the level of lending, which for asset classes requiring debt, such as housing, and those that benefited by low cost debt, like the equities market, we will see a considerable correction. My view - 30%-40% drop in housing prices and the stock market. Banks, like others, need to figure out new models.

At the beginning of the development of the 1st wave of the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on the banking sector was definitely negative, as turnover, orders and profits fell in many companies. If, as part of state aid, the government financially supported enterprises, subsidized jobs, applied tax breaks and non-returnable subsidies as part of an interventionist socio-economic policy, the so-called Anti-crisis Shield, the demand for bank loans decreased many times and banks earn less on lending activities. In such a situation, in order to maintain a positive level of profits, banks raise fees for certain financial activities and services and develop online banking, including mobile banking. Citizens make more and more purchases online and settle electronic payments through online banking. Therefore, despite the economic crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic, the situation of the banking sector should not deteriorate significantly.

Best regards,

Dariusz Prokopowicz

Interesting question Sanel Halilbegovic . Would be interested to know as well.

New implementation is needed.

In My book new base of evolution.

Impacted in form of non performing assets

Its increased because of Covid

All the sector are affected including banking