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Banking is rapidly undergoing a shift because of technology. Software, tools, web-based features, and artificial intelligence are crawling into our lives slowly but surely.

Plenty of movies have already shown what the future could look like, but sometimes it feels as if the future is already here. Traditional plastic cards are gradually being replaced by tools such as UPIs (universal payment interfaces) and virtual wallets. What’s next? ATM cards embedded in our wrists?

Today, there are hundreds of different banks with thousands of their branches scattered all over. People go into a bank, talk to a human teller, and make a transaction. They can also visit an ATM machine on the side of the bank to make a deposit, do a withdrawal, or a balance transfer. It’s a relatively simple and semi-automated process.

But imagine what it would be like if Google or another company took over all aspects of the banking/finance industry?

The possibility of Google banking

If this happened, there are likely going to be fewer bank branches or no branches at all. Why? With the DIY model being quicker, the human element will most likely be removed. (The DBS DigiBank initiative is the first step towards such a future.)

Today, there are more apps than we can download for all the services we need. For example, we have multiple apps in each of these categories: deposits, bill payments, money transfers, loans, and investments. This is because we have too many banks to choose from and too many startups leveraging opportunities to disrupt every single service offered by banks today.

The unbundling of the banking system is real and it’s accelerating. However, it can be daunting to try and sign up for all of these individual websites and apps. If Google or maybe Apple decides to truly embrace banking for the future, you can have access to all of the services you need under a single umbrella.

Single interface reality

In this reality, Google bundles everything so that you can pick and choose what you need while everything remains independent yet interconnected. Maybe Google banking for businesses will also operate in a similar fashion.

Logging into your Google online banking app (which may be built on top of a new operating system, which is highly secure and may use its own blockchain technology), will give you access to accounting and legal services, business insurance services, employee welfare and money management, and others such services. Maybe small banks will be part of this Google banking ecosystem or die a slow death.

Maybe small banks will be part of this Google banking ecosystem or die a slow death.

Google Banking for individuals would work the same way, allowing users to take advantage of money remittances, personal loans, money management, a new kind of healthcare savings accounts, and other services. You won’t have to sign up on countless websites any longer. Instead, you will have one app, which will keep everything interconnected.

You can simplify the way you manage your money. Whether you are saving, investing, or trying to spend in a more budget-friendly way, you never have to worry about losing track of your funds. People who want to make improvements to their cash flow, obtain help with investments, or anything else can also just look for the necessary add-ons in this open banking platform. The list of benefits goes on.

In my opinion, this kind of open platform and network can lead to an array of new seamless options for businesses and individuals alike.

From an Indian standpoint, we may just see something like this happen sooner than we think. The idea of a single banking interface is similar to how payments are being organized under just one interface by the National Payment Corporation Of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payment systems in the country. Can you imagine something similar for banking? The National Banking Corporation Of India (NBCI) perhaps?

The future of banking is looking exciting. Traditional banking and banks as we know them today may go obsolete if one interface becomes a reality.

This was first published on The Huffington Post.