How digital disruption and UX will drive 5G adoption

By Matt High

June 01, 2020

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Mobile, the digital evolution of business models worldwideand other emerging technologies will drive 5G adoption, says Huawei’s Bill Genovese The dig...

Mobile, the digital evolution of business models worldwide and other emerging technologies will drive 5G adoption, says Huawei’s Bill Genovese

The digital evolution of industries worldwide is unceasing. In a recent article for our sister publication, FinTech magazine, I spoke with Huawei’s Vice President Corporate Strategy - Banking & Financial Markets, Bill Genovese.

With more than 25 years’ experience in providing professional solutions to the sector he knows, more than most, about this evolution.

According to Genovese, the traditional banking model has forever changed. This, he explains, has been driven by new and innovative technologies, new digitally-led businesses entering the sector and our evolving needs as consumers.

We are, he says, already entrenched in the next generation of financial services - an environment in which banking has shifted from a product-driven ethos, to being about building a lifestyle

It's worth pointing out, before we get too entrenched in the world of fintech innovation, that this evolution of technology is not siloed in one sector. Similar customer-centric changes and digital evolution of traditional business models are prevalent everywhere,

Fintech and 5G

Genovese explained in detail the technologies and market conditions that have led to that change - the full article can be read here

One area he touched on was 5G - hardly surprising given Huawei’s pedigree.

Specifically, Genovese explained how those conditions that have led to market evolution such as mobile and new technologies and shifting consumer expectations, may place fintech at the head of the 5G revolution.

The excerpt below is from one of Genovese’s own blogs on this subject.

5G will become widely adopted first to meet the needs of fintech and other industries through the application of mobile and digital next generation financial services that will apply emerging technologies.

These emerging technologies will converge to provide faster, cheaper, and better services for more people that did not have access to these services before.

Fintech is going to drive 5G, not the other way around. 5G will enable network downloads as fast as 20 gigabits.

Today most broadband is through fixed lines and fiber optics, but 5G will enable this enormous volume of data to move via mobile.

It will also accelerate the ability of machines to share data, ultimately meaning every device in an urban area can be connected.

However, cross industry generic video or consumer gaming won’t be the things that drive real adoption, or further provide a solid ROI, or even at a more macro-economic sense further contribute to GDP growth.

Consider instead emerging markets lacking even 3G today; they can leapfrog straight to 5G.

There’s very limited, hard to access or no bank branches in many of these markets and locations, so as their economies grow, digital banks will need virtual tellers and virtual advisors and "micro branches" all requiring higher bandwidth and latency.

The coming era is one of “ubiquitous or embedded financial services”, in which banking becomes an embedded utility within many other industries, supporting lifestyle choices.

According to Genovese, 5G is not occurring in a vacuum. Rather, it is part of a converging os several factors that fintech could be at the centre of.

This, he affirms, is built around mobile disruption in the three areas that we ‘consume’ financial services: payments, credit and lending, and deposits.