It's hard to believe it's been a month since we welcomed delegates to our Annual Retail Banking Conference. A lot has happened since then - we?ve ushered in the advent of UK Finance, Wimbledon has come and gone, and schools have broken up for the holidays. But now, four weeks later, seems like a good moment to pause and reflect on the day.

The conference took place on the 29 June 2017, the penultimate day of the British Bankers? Association, and hosted four panel discussions and 12 keynote speakers.

The theme of the day was the changing nature of customer experience, which complimented the launch of the fourth Way We Bank Now report on the same day; a joint publication with EY that highlighted the growing customer ?app-etite? for banking apps.

It's not just technology changing the customer experience of retail banking. New laws, regulation and competition remedies have too. FCA CEO Andrew Bailey and CMA Chief Executive Alasdair Smith* joined us to discuss these areas, and both opined that open banking will change the competition landscape as customers gain access to their personal banking data. Indeed, open banking was a key theme throughout the day.

Discussing the consumer point of view was Caroline Wayman from the Financial Ombudsman Service, Gillian Guy from Citizens Advice Bureau and Alex Neill from Which? All three speakers agreed that the banking industry is rebuilding trust, but has further to go.

Banks must remember the human element of customer interaction, advised Caroline Wayman. While Gillian Guy encouraged banks to support vulnerability and Alex Neill suggested prioritising digital inclusion. All in all, plenty of suggestions for banks to continue their journey to improving customer experience.

Moving from a consumer to a political point of view, the newly appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay MP revealed during his speech that deciding to accept the invitation to this conference was the first, and perhaps easiest, decision, in his new role. He went on to highlight his commitment to improving government understanding of sector priorities and the resilience of the economy in the face of a new environment of near continuous uncertainty.

As well as fantastic speakers, the conference also hosted some engaging panel discussions. A particular favourite of mine was a panel featuring the challenger banks, who discussed the importance of diverse business models in an otherwise traditional market.

I?d like to thank everyone who attended, especially our sponsors EY, for their support and collaboration.

In his speech, Andrew Bailey said, ?It is hard to think of many more important subjects in our world that the future of retail banking.?

I might be biased, but I agree with Andrew.  It seemed appropriate that the final event hosted by the BBA, before we joined our new colleagues to become UK Finance, focused on an essential part of what our new trade body exists to do; help our members serve their customers better and improve their experience.

The conference highlighted the breadth of issues affecting the retail banking industry, and I left feeling inspired to continue discussing these issues with my new colleagues at UK Finance.  I?m looking forward to see what the next year brings and how the debate will have moved on by this time next year.