Sustainable digital transformation of financial institutions

Abstract

Institutions constantly transform their products, services, and processes to increase profitability. By digitizing the transformation process of organizations, digital technologies change how they do business, their interactions with their customers, and the characteristics their employees should have. This study aims to review digital transformation practices in financial institutions in Turkey and how the examples encountered in literature reviews be implemented in daily business operations. Within the scope of the research, qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, including questions in 4 categories with decision-makers of institutions operating in the banking and finance sector. This research has tried to determine the digital technologies that the institutions focus on most, what employee skills stand out to be successful in digital transformation, and how the institutions' organisational cultures have changed with digital transformation. To summarize the results, all financial institutions have put digital transformation on their agenda and allocated resources to invest in digital technologies. They have focused on the transformation of employees and investment in information technology infrastructures. Additionally, they are searching for solutions to cyber security risks arising from accelerating data sharing. For better customer experience and to meet and exceed customer needs, digital channels and smart systems are under consideration. This study focuses only on the financial sector, one of the most invested areas for digital transformation. It is one of the pioneering studies in evaluating the digital maturity of the Turkish finance sector and showing the examples encountered in the literature.