All the talk surrounding big data is getting old; it is time for companies to step up and show what they can actually do with it.

Facebook, often seen as an inconvenience at best by banks, and a bogeyman at worst, is finally being embraced by a handful of lenders, with India's ICICI leading the way.

Banks are now being held back by the systems that once underpinned their business. But how can they make the transition to a model that serves the customer of today and tomorrow?

The technology is in place for financial institutions to use remote visual banking, but the appetite is not. Yet.

Digital social platforms are emerging in nearly every sector of the banking industry, driving innovation and popularising the concept of the socialisation of finance.

As the 'Internet of Everything' comes ever closer to becoming a reality, with the potential to change day-to-day life for consumers everywhere, banks need to be able to step up to the challenge of processing the billions of tiny transactions that will be involved and harness the data they generate. 

Businesses that fail to innovate will get swallowed by the ones that do and banks that ignore customer demand for online offerings do so at their own peril. 

The traditional banking structure is an invitation to change, says Chris Skinner, as the world awaits the game-changing initiatives that will see us all transacting differently 10 years from now.

Big data has the potential to revolutionise banks’ understanding of their customer base, allowing them to target individual business needs. But are banks ready for this new internet age?