Search Search Technology will cut 30% of banking jobs says former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit Artificial intelligence and robotics reduce the need for staff in roles such as back-office functions, Mr Pandit said Click to follow The Independent Online The banker isn't the first financial boss to make such a stark prediction about the future of the industry Reuters Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup during the financial crisis, has said developments in technology could cut the number of banking jobs by 30 per cent in the next five years.
 Artificial intelligence and robotics reduce the need for staff in roles such as back-office functions, Mr Pandit said on Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg in Singapore.
 He’s now chief executive of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he co-founded last year.
 “Everything that happens with artificial intelligence, robotics and natural language — all of that is going to make processes easier,” said Mr Pandit, who was Citigroup’s chief executive from 2007 to 2012.
 “It’s going to change the back office.
” Robocars to patrol Dubai's streets by the end of the year Wall Street’s biggest firms are using technologies including machine learning and cloud computing to automate their operations, forcing many employees to adapt or find new positions.
 Bank of America’s chief operating officer Tom Montag said in June the firm will keep cutting costs by finding more ways for technology to replace people.
 While Mr Pandit’s forecast for job losses is in step with one made by Citigroup last year, his timeline is more aggressive.
 In a March 2016 report, the lender estimated a 30 per cent reduction between 2015 and 2025, mainly due to automation in retail banking.
 That would see full-time jobs drop by 770,000 in the US and by about one million in Europe, Citigroup said.
 JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon cautioned in June against overreacting to the impact of technology on jobs.
 While the bank is using technology to reduce costs, that helps create other opportunities, Mr Dimon said.
 He predicted that employee numbers at his firm will continue to rise — as it hires more technology workers.
 The banking industry is becoming “enormously competitive”, Mr Pandit said, adding that he foresees the emergence of “specialist providers” as well as consolidation in the industry.
 Business picture of the day Business picture of the day Richard Cousins, CEO of catering giant Compass group, died alongside four family members in a seaplane crash in Australia on New Year's Eve.
 The killed six people near Cowan, north of Sydney.
 Mr Cousins had led Compass for just over a decade and was due to step down at the end of March this year.
 Cheltenham, famous for horse racing, recorded the highest percentage rise in house price of any major UK town or city last year.
 House price growth has slowed this year, with London a particular weak spot, thanks to a sluggish economy and a squeeze on consumers in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union.
 PA Wire/PA Images More commuter pain as average rail ticket prices have risen by 3.
4 per cent across the UK.
 Some commuters could see tickets go up by more than £100.
 The Department for Transport said price rises were capped in line with inflation.
 PA The Co-op plans to open 100 new food stores across the UK this year, creating an estimated 1,600 jobs.
 The retailer on Tuesday said that it plans to spend more than £160m on the new stores, as well as on major makeovers for a further 150 of its existing outlets.
 Car giant Vauxhall has slipped to third place in UK sales rankings.
 The brand has been overtaken by scandal-hit Volkswagen in new car registrations, recording a 22 per cent year-on-year decrease in the first 11 months of 2017.
 PA Wire/PA Images “I see a banking world going from large financial institutions to one that’s a little bit more decentralised,” he said.
 Since leaving Citigroup, Mr Pandit has invested in non-bank financial startups such as student-loan venture CommonBond and home equity finance firm Point Digital Finance.
 He formed New York-based Orogen last year with investment firm Atairos Group to acquire stakes in mature financial-services companies.
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