How banking will change as the internet grows more pervasive.

• Author: Motley, L. Biff
• Position: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

IN A RECENT WALL STREET JOURNAL (1) ARTICLE Tony Fadell observed that we are on a very fast track in the evolution of the Internet. He believes the next phases will have extraordinarily disruptive effects on current business models. But also, for those who understand and get on this track, the rewards can be enormous. This is particularly good advice for bankers, whose product is increasingly time-sensitive digital data set in a value-added contextual information format.

As the former Apple senior executive overseeing the iPod and iPhone, Fadell's vision, though dramatic, should not be frightening for bankers. On the contrary, the impact of his vision is quite consistent with how many thoughtful banking strategists envision our future delivery system a few years from now.

Simply put, Fadell envisions a future Internet having a very different feel and role than that of today. And that it will evolve into a ubiquitous augmenter of our own intelligence--connecting everyone with everything in ways that turn passive data into timely information, which is not only useful but contextually relevant to the requestor's immediate situation.

Fadell says, "Instead...