COLLABORATIVE FUTURES
Glasgow School of Art X Royal Bank of Scotland | 2018 - 2019
In 2028, we envision three emerging landscapes that represent possibilities for the future of banking services. Formed using our movements drawn from our research, these landscapes pull together the growing trends that as a team we feel will shape the role of the bank and the services they will provide. The map created forms a visual framework to then place our future people, allowing us to speculate as to how these people would experience the different landscapes.
The financial crash in 2008 made people gradually lose faith in the establishment. People started to become more cautious of the financial sector as well as more aware of the real value of their data. They developed new expectations from the services they are offered, because people do not go through the same life milestones at the same time.
Data gradually started to become mainstream and widely present in a lot of areas in our lives, including health and finances. Because of this shift, being digitally and financially literate, as well as understanding and using data became a must-have skill. The government took a more proactive approach to national health problems, due to healthcare staff shortages, and more attention started to be paid towards mental health and wellbeing and its impact on the other areas of life.
On the other hand, the Open Banking Standard gave users the ability to share their financial data with third party providers to help them to understand their finances.
Facing all of these changes there are some important questions emerging: What should be the bank’s new role in tomorrow’s society? Does the bank need to reinvent itself? If so, is it going to evolve towards a purely digital service, or is it going to keep its physical representation?
Overview
I-Land
What if there will be individuals who become aware of the value of their data and use them to empower their life quality? In this sphere, people benefit from the Minister of AI - ensuring the security and transparency of collected data - and use AIs to analyse their health and spending behaviours to better financially educate themselves.
*Voice of AI* Welcome to I-Land, a place where we help you get the most value out of your data and benefits out of services, making sure you are financially independent and always healthy. We know that today’s life can be mentally and financially challenging. But we have your back! We know about your need for better financial planning in case something goes wrong. With us, you can check your financial analysis anytime, anywhere. You can see how you can improve financially, view future predictions and get nudges that foster a long-term focused mindset.
We are revolutionizing financial health! With our help, you can be your own practitioner. We can check your health through the sensors you wear everyday and link it to your financial data. With the gamified analysis, predictions and support we provide, staying financially healthy has never been this fun!
Thanks to the Minister of AI, you’re aware of all of the data you can share, its value, and what and how you want to share it. This greater control of data means you get greater benefits. If you’re in the red, don’t worry! We will help you auction the data you’re cool selling away.
So… Are you in for the rAIde?
Analogia
What if there were individuals who struggle with the loss of their physical community and with keeping up-to-date with technology? In this sphere, people value a physical space where banks provide human-centered services, ensuring the support of people’s financial wellbeing.
*Voice of Bank* Come on in, friend! Here, we really value human relationships. That is why it is essential to provide people with a physical, human presence of the bank in these digital times. Some find it hard to keep up with the pace of change or have taken a step back from technology. In order to ensure the positive financial well-being of all of our customers, regardless of digital literacy levels, we are creating a physical space that facilitates Open Banking. We ensure customers always receive the tailored support that they need.
Branches that provided simple, transactional services are long gone. Following these closures, a system has been put in place that helps to improve communities financial wellbeing through community based support. This shift is accompanied by the creation of alternative, local currency systems which aim to grow the local economy.
Cloudhood
What if there were individuals who use technology as a leverage for fostering meaningful human relationships? In this sphere people adopt an online Platform tool - initiated by the council and the bank - to feel and improve their financial, mental and physical wellbeing as well as the neighbourhood’s ones.
*Voice of Council* Over the past few years, the world has suffered. Resources kept diminishing. To tackle that, we built smaller houses. We shared our homes and our energy. We started to make the most out of human connections becoming more efficient and productive.
AI is an incredible tool to link us together, and make our relationships more meaningful. Our city created a secure online Platform that connects citizens and neighbourhoods and improves wellbeing by creating better connections. In this Platform, we offer a better use of resources, as well as interconnected support for finance and health.
Locally collected data measures the wellbeing level of our citizens and impacts on the future of the community. The greater the financial wellbeing of our citizens, the better the opportunities that are created and the knock on effects it has for a community.
Our system works preventively, using data collected from various sources to ensure the health of a community is sustained. It looks forward into the next generations, creating an environment where customer’s wellbeing is paramount.
