In a decade's time, successful banks will be those able to "unlock the value of data" in order to provide a sustainable competitive advantage by delivering tailored financial services with "profound meaning" for individual customers. According to Murray Howe, executive manager of group digital strategy and innovation at Suncorp, the advent of technologies and policies which allow such fine segmentation signals a disruptive change for traditional banking. Speaking at the Australian Information Industry Association's Bank of the Future panel discussion, held in Sydney on Friday, Howe said that to date most banks' technology focus had been directed at lifting operational efficiency.He said that there had been relatively little customer-focused innovation. This could be foolish, he warned, citing Bill Gates' famous remark that while the world needed banking, it didn't need banks. Micheal Gindy, chief technology officer of IAG, agreed that the Bank of the Future would need to be quite different, as the next generation of bank customers - who Gindy described as iKids - would have different expectations of their financial service providers. "When I look at the competition, I worry about the Googles and the PayPals. They have the attention of younger people and the customer base."Andrew Rothwell, co-founder and chief technology officer of Tyro Payments, said that the technology itself was not a major issue. It should be seen as being just an enabler for a new form of bank-customer relationship. What was needed was a fresh approach to innovation: "This is all about putting yourself in your customers' world, to create a long-lived, sticky relationship that gives you an annuity for life."Rothwell also forecast a radically different payments' landscape, predicting that "cards will go the way of the dinosaur." To an extent, the advent of digital wallets is already pointing towards this, with smartphones being used to make payments rather than the plastic card itself. Rothwell said: "In 15 years' time, they won't have such a thing as a credit card - just a phone. The payment app will be gone and all that will be left is the engagement process. "This is a horse race - the person or company that produces the ultimate consumer experience will win."