The Great Banking Disruption - Patterns of Digital Strategy using Wardley Maps

A decade ago, many expected retail banking to follow the familiar disruption pattern seen in other industries: nimble digital challengers rising fast, incumbents losing ground, and the market reshaping around new winners. The logic seemed sound — better apps, cleaner onboarding, lower fees, modern technology. Yet the predicted displacement never fully materialised.

In this next session of our Patterns of Digital Strategy series, we take an industry-level perspective and examine the Retail Banking Disruption through the strategic patterns we’ve explored so far. One of the most important skills in mapping is understanding what to map — and this session is exactly that kind of exploration.

The early disruption narrative focused heavily on interfaces and customer experience. But banking is not an app-led business. Current accounts don’t drive profits. Trust compounds slowly. And the real strategic battleground sits much deeper in the value chain: capital requirements, balance sheet strength, compliance machinery,…