In the mid-1990s, Bill Gates stated that "banking is necessary, banks are not." This sentiment has deepened among the population over the last decade, with public opinion turning against banks after the 2008 financial crisis and technology opening up a host of new options for financial management. This has allowed startups to enter the industry at an unprecedented pace, causing a high level of disruption. Apple, Stripe and Square are just some of the companies revolutionizing the way we pay, while digital currencies and peer-to-peer lenders are opening up new financing avenues for startups and SMBs. In a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of more than 1,300 financial industry executives, 88% said they feared their business was at risk from standalone financial technology companies in areas such as payments, money transfers and personal finance, and 51% said they believe they could lose up to 40% of their revenue going to stand-alone FinTech companies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay However, despite this upheaval, banks are still here and are still the monoliths of twenty years ago. To stay relevant, they have worked hard to leverage the digital revolution and have completely reimagined their role and customer experience, often working alongside FinTech startups to do so. One of the main advantages of traditional banks is the large amount of financial data they hold on their millions of customers. They also have the structure and capital to exploit it. Speaking at the recent Google Cloud Next conference, Darryl West, Group Chief Information Officer at HSBC, explained that, "In addition to our $2.4 trillion in assets on our balance sheet, we have at the core of the company a huge asset in [the shape of] our data. And what's happened over the last three years is a massive growth in the size of our data assets. Our customers are adopting digital channels more aggressively, and we're collecting more data about how our customers interact with us. As a bank, we need to collaborate with partners who allow us to understand what is happening and draw insights so we can run a better business and create extraordinary experiences for customers.'The potential of data analytics is being realized everywhere. the financial sector. According to IDC's latest semi-annual global big data and analytics spending guide, global big data and business analytics (BDA) revenues will increase from $130.1 billion in 2016 to more than $203 billion in 2020. And it's the banking industry that is leading the charge, with IDC estimating that the industry spent nearly $17 billion on big data and business analytics solutions in 2016. Applications for data and analytics in banking are infinite. They can use data for greater personalization, allowing them to offer products and services tailored to individual consumers in real time. For example, when you buy a flight or a car abroad, the bank sends promotional insurance offers to cover these products. In the future, such applications could be further expanded. One way this might happen is that if you receive a large bill, the bank might send you a text message as soon as you receive it offering you a loan to cover the cost. An algorithm would then calculate which interest rate would be most appropriate based on your historical borrowing patterns and its view of you as a credit risk, before transferring your payment almost instantly..