In support of her appearance at the Digital Innovation Summit next week , Maria Harris of Atom Bank discusses ?embracing technology to empower customers?.

I am frequently asked what digital is, and what it really means for customers. If you take the dictionary definition at its very simplest, digital is just information or data that is generated, stored and processed as a series of ones and zeros.

Digital devices read information as either on or off (one or zero), and then display it in a format we can make sense of. I?m sure that most people are not hugely interested in how their smartphone, laptop or music streaming service makes sense of all the ones and zeros. However, we?re so used to having the improved quality of images, clarity of sound, real-time insights and always-on content that digital enables, that this standard is becoming the new norm.

The development and adoption of digital technology is advancing at such a pace that it's hard to imagine just how the world will look in ten or twenty years? time. A recent Forbes article claimed that there are more people in the world who own a mobile phone than own a toothbrush, and analysts predict that the number of smart phone users is expected to reach 2.87 billion by 2020.

This ubiquitous access to our digital world means that customer experiences and expectations are undoubtedly changing. When your fridge can tell you that you?re running out of milk - and it has already placed an order for you - or your car can connect to your phone and play your favourite driving playlist without you needing to press a single button, then it won't be long before customers expect better experiences from their bank too.

When you think of digital as being a way of changing how your customers interact with you or your product, then it becomes less about the technology, and more about how you deliver an experience.

Examples include designing truly personalised content or user journeys, providing real-time insights and intelligence into your customers? needs or behaviours, and automating tasks and processes that remove friction and speed up decisions and response times. All these are ways that digital banks are transforming the customer relationship, giving the customer much more control of their experience - but also a better experience.

Catch Atom Bank at the Digital Innovation Summit discussing Harnessing digital transformation. This session, also featuring Julie-Ann Haines, Chief Customer Officer, Principality Building Society, and Christian Faes, CEO, LendInvest, will explore different lenders? approaches to embracing technologies which empower customers, improve data analysis, reduce costs and improve efficiencies.