"Technology is everywhere.” You’ve probably heard that a million times because what could be more obvious? Everything we do, from transportation to finding a new sushi spot, has been forever changed by new technology within just the last 10 years. That shouldn’t surprise anyone reading this, but I’ll bet this might – one of the most interesting fields for technological innovation right now is (drumroll) banking. Banking technologists are helping redefine and strengthen the relationships well-established financial institutions have with their customers, which means there’s ton of opportunity for creativity and discovery.

Technology has been key to the growth of digital banking over the last several years and its acceleration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The numbers don’t lie: as of Q3 2021, Chase has roughly 44 million mobile active (+10% YoY) and nearly 58 million digitally active customers (+6% YoY).

Technologists are natural problem solvers and therefore crucial resources for banks of all sizes, including Chase. Their goal? Help consumers improve their financial health, reach financial goals and make it easier to manage their money when and how they want. Throughout 2022, I believe these four consumer banking technology trends will positively affect the way technologists do their jobs and how they can help consumers make the most of their money.

1. Digital transformation: increased collaboration will elevate the customer experience

Competition continues to intensify in all sectors as digital capabilities improve. Businesses need to ensure their customer experience is the number one priority if they want to stay ahead.

Organizations must employ the right talent and apply the right technological capabilities to examine customer data, improve products and services, and win the confidence of existing and prospective customers. It’s imperative for technology teams to collaborate openly across business units, including product development and design. This is something our technologists are heavily involved in daily.

What many of them love most about this is the direct impact they can have on the customer. Our technologists can improve service, reduce latency and enhance the customer experience for those using the Chase Mobile app. This is possible thanks to customer data, analysis and cross-team collaboration.

2. Bespoke experiences: personalization will set brands apart from competitors

Chase conducted a survey in April 2021 that examined consumers’ relationship with cash, savings and digital banking tools one year after the start of the pandemic. 41% of respondents said they wished banks provided more personalized offers or information to help them achieve their financial goals. I expect this demand to increase across all industries in 2022.

As the industry continues to navigate its digital transformation, it will look for ways to optimize the customer experience through personalization via mobile apps. Our team of more than 12,000 technologists focuses on using artificial intelligence to dive deeper into customer insights, allowing us to elevate the level of personalization.

Snapshot and Spending & Budgeting – which are personalized aspects of the Chase mobile app – are perfect examples of what our technologists are continuing to refine. Tools like these are designed to help customers view their spending habits in real time and customize their budget settings to fit their needs. The same can be said for Credit Journey, a free tool available on the mobile app for Chase and non-Chase customers that lets individuals monitor and check their credit scores. Here, they can explore personalized resources to help build and maintain credit.

In 2022, we look forward to our tech teams’ continued innovation in these sections of the app and are also excited for them to experiment with data and coding to find other unique, innovative personalization solutions.

3. The road less traveled: technologists drive unexpected industries forward

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of college degrees in computer and information sciences has steadily increased, from approximately 64,000 in 2015-2016, to more than 88,000 in 2018-2019, a 38% increase. These numbers tell us that job opportunities for technologists will absolutely expand in 2022, especially as Gen Z makes its way into the workforce.

Chase will continue to place a tremendous emphasis on hiring skilled technologists to join the firm’s digital and technology teams. Over the past year-and-a-half, we have undertaken an agility transformation that has empowered our technologists with the freedom and autonomy to work quickly and make strategic decisions as they innovate for the Chase mobile app alongside their peers on our Product and Design teams. Having this freedom instills confidence and encourages them to get creative, while also allowing them to collaborate closely and produce the best results for our customers.

Technologists are not just redefining the financial sector – they’ve taken prominent roles in education, retail, real estate and health care, helping these other legacy industries quickly modernize and meet the new needs of consumers in a COVID world. We all share a similar goal—to improve our consumer products through technology and welcome many more talented technologists to our team in the next year.

4. Diversity and inclusion: a non-negotiable requirement for hiring managers

Recruiting talented technologists and hiring diverse candidates will be crucial in 2022 and beyond in large part because diversity in the workplace can increase employee morale and engagement.

Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture encourages us to take a fresh look at things that we may have taken for granted – challenging entrenched modes of thinking is, after all, a key to staying innovative, and one of the best ways to do that is by having people of diverse backgrounds work together and share their perspectives. This is the secret sauce to developing products and services that are as unique as the customers they serve, and we’re always thinking about new ways to expand and deepen our talent pool. Creating a culture that recognizes the value and impact of neurodiversity is a great example of this – our Autism at Work program is helping us attract neurodiverse talent.

Our Emerging Talent Program (ETP) has a similar mission. With ETP, we can go beyond traditional recruiting methods and focus on finding diverse, young talent often underrepresented in typical recruiting channels, inspire them to learn how to code and spark their interest to join JPMorgan Chase as technologists. We want to be a destination for technologists looking to do work that is both cutting-edge and immediately relevant in customers’ daily lives.

In the new year, technologists will continue to play a key role in the digitization of multiple industries, helping modernize infrastructure and develop new products. At Chase, we’ll continue actively recruiting for the roles that are key to delivering the products that help more than 60 million households in the U.S. manage their money and reach their financial goals.