Zilvinas Bareisis

In 2025, retail banking technology strategies were put to the test. AI pilots moved into production, agentic AI raised the stakes, and economic pressure (from tariffs to softer job markets) reshaped customer behavior, delinquency risk, and cost-to-serve. In this environment, retail banks need clear, data-backed insight into which technological investments are driving measurable returns, and which are just adding noise.

Did this get your attention? I suspect it did. It’s two short sentences. The first denies something. The second responds. Often exaggerates. Do you recognise this style? Is it just me, or is it really that seemingly every other LinkedIn post or blog now follows this writing pattern? Consider just a few examples: Fundraising is not a finish line. It’s a responsibility. The next cybersecurity crisis will not be triggered by cybercriminals. It will be triggered by quantum computing.

Celent defines digital-only bank as a banking entity operating primarily or exclusively through digital channels, with no or limited physical branch network. At the end of 2025, Celent conducted a market study on digital-only banks in the Middle East, specifically the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region – Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar. The study assesses the appetite of financial institutions operating in the GCC to launch digital-only banks.