A new report from Deloitte Research says that commercial banks, securities firms and insurance companies need to undergo a radical change of their strategies and operations if they hope to survive and prosper in a bleak economy that brings intense competitive pressures.

Thee report, entitled Reinventing Financial Services: Succeeding with Corporate Transformation, identifies fundamental shifts in procedure that will allow firms to satisfy increasingly demanding customers, exceed the expectations of and entice investors, and hire and keep the brightest professionals.

It also examines how leading financial services firms, including Bank of America, LendingTree.com and MasterCard International, have already successfully implemented reinvention programs.

In the report, Deloitte Research identifies six transformation tactics that firms can implement to meet the demands of the new business world:

  • establish new approaches to designing and deploying projects that allow firms to execute at Internet speed;
  • move more transactions online and integrate the Internet throughout the firm;
  • streamline business processes to eliminate elements that do not add value;
  • integrate customer service information across products and channels to create a consolidated view of customer relationships to assess profitability and customer needs;
  • extend capabilities and enter new lines of business by turning vendors into strategic partners; and,
  • rethink the set-in-stone assumptions of a firm’s business model.


  • The report also finds that during the past decade, many financial service companies sought growth through acquisitions, but most failed to deliver the cost savings and earnings growth promised. “Couple this letdown with a business landscape today far more treacherous than in recent memory, reinvention is no longer optional, but essential,” says Annette Tirabasso, partner in Deloitte Consulting’s Financial Services Practice.

    “Now more than ever, firms must abandon this method of convention and adopt one of reinvention. Those that can successfully transform themselves will exceed the expectations of everyone they touch–customers, employees and investors. Firms that don’t will not survive.”