It is not just banks that have to work on improvements and technical progress, employees have a duty to partake in that process, UBS chief Sergio Ermotti told students recently.

«I can guarantee you that in 10 years time, the banking business will look very differently,» UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti told an event at the University of Basel in Switzerland, attended by «Basler Zeitung» (in German).

Robots Are Taking Over

The 58-year-old made the comments against the backdrop of the increasing pace of digitization in the banking industry. This means that by the end of the year some 700 robots could be working at UBS, the world’s biggest wealth manager.

As has been widely documented, this will mostly affect jobs in the back offices of financial institutions, where staff will slowly be replaced by robots.  Jobs will be lost as a result, but new ones will also be created in other business areas, he said.

Banks Are Preparing

It is vital thus for employees to move with the times. «Innovate yourselves,» was Ermotti’s appeal to the bankers; progress doesn’t only begin at the company as a whole, and individuals also carry a responsibility for keeping up with technological developments.

The automation of the banking industry is also pressuring other financial services companies. St.Galler Kantonalbank for example recently began experimenting with robots for the integration of new clients. And at Credit Suisse, there are currently about 190 robots in use, and their number is expected to increase to 400 in the near future.