Canadian Financial Firms Take a Slap Shot at Digital Transformation in 2020

TORONTO, Ontario – January 25, 2021 – An overwhelming majority of Canadian business executives (87%) said the pandemic accelerated their company’s plans to digitally transform the way they work with clients, according to Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader, in its third annual survey on Canadian digital transformation. The survey, which explores the state of innovation within the country’s financial services sector, found almost all the respondents (96%) expect their company to continue this focus after a global “return to normal.” 

When asked which Canadian hockey phrase best described their company’s experience with digital transformation, 44% of respondents chose “Slapshot,” denoting optimism, down slightly from 49% in 2019. Other hockey phrases depicting companies’ paths to digital transformation include “Hat Trick” (accomplished, 29%), “Face-Off” (neutral, 22%), “Off the goal post” (unconvinced, 4%) and “In the sin-bin” (negative, 3%).

“Actively prioritizing digitization has been an increasing trend for Canada’s financial services firms, and 2020 greatly accelerated those efforts as companies moved to a remote working environment,” said Michael Dignam, President of Canadian Securities Processing Solutions at Broadridge. “Still, over three-quarters of these businesses are struggling with legacy technology and finding the resources necessary to adapt and update their digital capabilities. Financial firms should see this as a tremendous opportunity to scale their technology and meet client expectations.”

Overcoming Obstacles to Digital Transformation

When asked to name the biggest areas of growth as a result of digital transformation, most respondents noted increased customer advocacy, loyalty, retention, productivity, and lower costs.

Despite firms continuing to grow and accelerate their digital transformation efforts, many are still finding legacy technology and resources to be the biggest hurdles for digital transformation. In 2020, 77% of respondents said that legacy technology was the biggest hurdle, up from 73% in 2019. However, companies reported less of a struggle for resources and less of a challenge getting executive sponsorship:

• 69% of respondents reported resources as the biggest hurdle (down 15% from 2019)
• 56% of respondents reported data analytics as the biggest hurdle (down 3% from 2019)
• 29% of respondents reported executive sponsorship as the biggest hurdle (down 11% from 2019)

The ABCDs of Innovation Paving the Way

As Canadian businesses continue to operate in a remote environment, 51% of respondents noted that the Cloud will have the most significant impact on business over the next year, up from 41% in 2019. This was followed by AI (34%), down from 50% in 2019, and Blockchain (15%), up from 9% in 2019.

When asked to grade their company’s digital transformation efforts, 66% of respondents gave themselves an “A” or a “B,” up slightly from 64% in 2019. Only 33% of respondents gave themselves a “C” or below, down from 37% in 2019.

To read more about the research results go to: https://www.broadridge.com/ca/infographic/canadian-firms-digital-transformation-2020.

Methodology

The survey of 118 Canadian financial services professionals was conducted via email.

For further details on survey methodology, please contact a Broadridge media representative.