[Observation] On the development of the Meta-universe and the opportunities of banks in the future
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Text/Li Zechen Zeng Fan (Tan Kah Kee College, Xiamen University)
Metaverse is a new concept that has entered the public’s field of vision in recent years. This concept is a combination of blockchain, interactive technology, electronic games, artificial intelligence, network technology and Internet of Things technology, so a new Internet social ecology has emerged, providing users with an immersive experience. Although the meta-universe is mostly in the initial stage, for banks, we can learn from their innovative thinking and take precautions to explore the function of "banks in the meta-universe". For example, promote digital transformation and reconstruction of traditional resources, digitally assemble financial products, and strengthen the digital connection of customer ecology in the meta-universe through virtual people.
Meta-universe and Bank Innovation
2021 is recognized as the first year of the meta-universe. Many people compare the meta-universe with the Internet in the 1990s and the blockchain ten years ago, and think that the meta-universe will become the hottest new favorite of the scientific and investment circles in recent years. Metauniverse is a virtual world that is linked and created by scientific and technological means, mapped and interacted with the real world, and has a digital living space with a new social system. The concept of metauniverse was born in the book Avalanche written by American science fiction writer neal stephenson in 1992, which describes a virtual world parallel to the real world-"metaworld", which has all the forms of the real world, where people appear as digital incarnations. At present, more and more companies are beginning to set foot in the field of metauniverse. In March 2021, Roblox, known as the first share of metauniverse, was listed on the new york Stock Exchange. In its prospectus, the description of metauniverse is that a real metauniverse product should have: identity, friends, immersion, low delay, diversification, anytime, anywhere, economic system and civilization; In October 2021, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg announced that his platform was renamed "Meta" and entered the meta-cosmic industry; China’s social platform "soul" followed closely, changing the slogan to "Young People’s Social Metauniverse"; In December 2021, Baidu released the first domestic metacosmic product "Xirang" and officially opened the internal test; In December 2021, baixin bank also launched the virtual human AIYA.Make it an image of a future bank explorer and brand concept disseminator. Some scholars believe that the meta-cosmic era is a great sailing era when the real world explores the virtual world. The banking industry can also explore in advance how to set foot in the field of meta-universe and open up new formats.
A virtual social Application created by Baidu is called "the first metauniverse app in China" by some people.
Digital reconstruction of resources. How to open the "bank in the meta-universe"? What needs to be considered is how to translate and adapt the functions of various departments in reality to the meta-universe. This integration work includes but is not limited to the front-office management system, the market environment analysis and strategy formulation between China and Taiwan, and the back-office business processing.
The primary goal of a bank is to reshape its various elements in a digital twin environment. Some studies believe that basic bank resource elements such as human resources, computing power, product components, technical capabilities, business flows, and ecological roles need to be reconstructed, so that they can become digital native elements suitable for the meta-universe, and can be properly digitally assembled, distributed, and deployed according to factors such as scenarios, regulatory rules, and business management strategies. At present, the metauniverse is still a start-up space, and its general direction is to create a virtual world that is parallel to the real world and highly interoperable with it. However, the development direction of each subdivision is still unknown, which means that institutions that want to enter the metauniverse must have strong optimization and follow-up functions in their technical systems and business models in order to keep up with the pace of updating iterations in time.
Digital assembly of products. Based on the situation of digital twin elements reconstructed by banks, more flexible financial products can be assembled and designed to meet the asset allocation and management needs of users in the meta-universe. At that time, banks need to think about the specific process of digital assembly of products and how to embed new technologies such as bank virtual people. For example, BNP Paribas recently launched a VR application, which allows customers to access their accounts in a virtual environment and complete some basic services, such as deposit and withdrawal and transfer, just like people go to ATM to operate in reality. It is also reported that in February 2021, JPMorgan Chase announced the opening of an "Onyx Lounge" in the Metauniverse. The "Lounge" was established by Onyx, a blockchain department in JPMorgan Chase, where users can purchase virtual land with cryptocurrency. At present, the price of virtual land is on the rise.
In February 2021, JPMorgan Chase announced the opening of an "Onyx Lounge" in the Metauniverse (Source: Cailian).
Considering the development direction of the meta-universe, the creation, exchange and consumption of digital products can be carried out in the digital world. People can create income in the meta-universe, exchange virtual assets with each other, or exchange fake assets for real money. This requires digital assembly of bank products to provide customers with personalized services that are more suitable for virtual scenes.
Establish a "digital connection" with customers. No matter in the real world or the meta-universe world, users are an indispensable part, and in the meta-universe world, the property rights of virtual goods and digital assets will be more clear, and banks should explore becoming "ubiquitous banks" and keep close contact with customers. While accurately matching customer needs, we need to get involved in daily activities and expand business scenarios around customer life.
For example, in 2021, kookmin bank built a virtual town on the meta-cosmic platform "gather", including not only the bank itself, but also a telecommuting center and a playground. In the process of "digital connection" with guest rooms, the role of virtual customer service is particularly important. At present, virtual customer service has developed in the banking industry, but its role is still limited, sometimes it only exists as a transit medium, and a large number of complex business consulting and problem solving rely largely on manual customer service.
Kookmin bank building
In December 2019, Xiaopu, a digital employee of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (600000), officially took up his post. Coincidentally, Everbright Bank (601818) also launched Sunshine Xiao Zhi, a virtual banking employee, in the same month. As a bank virtual human, its brightest feature is AI artificial intelligence technology, which can basically serve all customers at the same time and adjust its services according to customers’ habits. In the future, the "banks in the meta-universe" will undoubtedly have higher requirements for virtual customer service and virtual employees. They can provide guidance services when customers first enter the meta-universe ecology, lead customers to be familiar with the distribution of various businesses in the meta-universe, and even become partners with customers in the game field for entertainment.
"Xiaopu", a digital employee of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (Source: Xinhuanet (603888))
In addition, there are still risks such as capital manipulation, public opinion bubbles and economic risks in various meta-cosmic platforms at the initial stage of their establishment. When designing, bank virtual people should consider strengthening their professional risk reminding ability to prevent customers from losing their property due to new fraudulent means.
Promote the use of digital currency through bank virtual people. In the future metacosmic ecology, digital currency will be an important competitive field among countries, and all countries are actively developing their own digital legal tender. China’s central bank’s statutory digital currency has made progress in stages, and its use scenarios and forms will continue to expand. In the international ecology of Metauniverse, banks can promote the use of digital RMB through virtual people and explore and innovate their virtual use scenarios.
Difficulties and countermeasures in entering the meta-universe
At present, the concept of metauniverse is just emerging, the platform construction is still in its infancy, and there are many kinds of technologies needed. It is still unknown whether the metauniverse can be popularized in the future and what functions banks can play in it. It can be predicted that if banks enter the metauniverse, they will face at least the following major difficulties:
Scene building obstacles. In the construction of the metauniverse, several important technologies that cannot be avoided include 5G, AI, blockchain, etc., and these technologies are also in the early stage of development. To meet the needs of the meta-universe, it will not be completed in just a few years. And this has also become the difficulty of bank innovation.
Obstacles in the use of scenes. Some experts believe that the role of banks in the meta-universe is difficult to be just needed by users. Just like the ecology that BNP Paribas tried to build mentioned above, it is actually just an extension of the real bank outlets. If the metauniverse is popularized, it will be difficult to attract customers if it still cannot make effective innovations.
Known as Web3.0, the metauniverse still needs a long time to mature, but from the perspective of development, the future may become one of people’s new lifestyles. Banks can explore mainly around customer relationship change and technological innovation, and consider the following aspects to prepare to occupy a place in the future meta-universe.
Cross-border cooperation to solve design problems. Technological innovation cannot be achieved overnight. In addition to independent innovation, banks can reach strategic cooperation with technology Internet companies to break through technical difficulties in a targeted manner. As the saying goes, there is specialization in the industry. Cooperation between the two parties is conducive to reducing the consumption of manpower and resources and helping to achieve innovative results.
Cultivate diversified new talents. At present, the metacosmic scenes that have been laid out are mainly reflected in games and social interaction. Metauniverse needs to be supported by network computing power, artificial intelligence, game technology, imaging technology (AR, VR) and blockchain technology, and these positions often have a big gap for the bank’s science and technology department. In addition, artists need to collide with programmers in order to achieve visual effects. For example, in the design of virtual people, painters and modelers are needed, and these talents used to be concentrated in animation or game companies, and may flow to meta-cosmic related industries in the future. These are also new talents that banks lack, and we can consider making up for the shortcomings through market-oriented recruitment, internal training and external talent cooperation.
Expand the business scope of bank virtual human. Virtual employees may take on more and more functions through continuous learning by relying on artificial intelligence, and bank virtual people will attract more customers in the metauniverse. For example, AIYA, a virtual brand official in baixin bank, is currently active in short videos, virtual live broadcasts, APP and other scenes, and will continue to learn and evolve in the future, so as to enhance AI computing power and financial intelligence. Therefore, innovating and expanding the business scope of bank virtual human will also become a necessary skill for banks to survive in the meta-universe in the future.
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