How does your organization understand the metaverse concept?
The metaverse is 3D immersion, a new way that we have an immersive interface with our client, so this is the way that we see and understand the metaverse”
In your opinion, is the metaverse inevitable, or is it just another passing trending topic that'll lose hype?
“Today we understand that it is inevitable, but that it will take at least 5 years to become mainstream, so our efforts are still measured efforts.”
What is it that makes the metaverse a revolutionary concept?
“For us, being able to situate the physical and the digital as part of the same interaction in an immersive scenario is what we consider to be the tipping point”
What challenges must the metaverse face to become the reality that many predict?
“In my opinion, the first problem is connectivity, which must reach the entire territory here in Brazil. The hardware must be able to run the entire metaverse graphics scenario, which should take time. It should also take time to come up with the applications that make sense to customers. We estimate 4 to 5 years for all this to occur. In our vision, this is the trio that we understand should lead to more massive use.”
Will the metaverse be a trend mainly for younger users? what do you think will unlock its mass adoption?
“We understand that while young people are already native for the application of the metaverse to the games, but we understand that in the coming years some applications will be used more generally. For example, the applications related to training is a use that we already see in an interesting way that does not have to do with generational roles, also certain applications of augmented reality”
How do you think will the metaverse affect mankind and reframe human-centered experiences?
“Without a doubt, what we understand is that the journey we will have to face with the metaverse will be different from the journey we know today through web 2.0. Also, the way to build it will be very different from other disciplines. But there are certainly topics related to web2.0 that are already generating impact on the mental health of people (for example, the recovery process of the pandemic is affecting a fourth of our employees), and in this sense, the metaverse should also plan relevant questions about mental health, so I think it's something we'll have to learn together”
What limitations could the metaverse free us from? And which ones could it impose on us?
“Obviously, when we think about the issue of physical limitations, we don't have limitations in the metaverse; but we don't know the limitations of our brain, right? I think we're going to have to learn the answer to this. The metaverse somehow tries to trick our brain by giving us a sense of immersion”
Does the metaverse open new dimensions to a more sustainable future?
“Look, I don't have that answer because, in the end, I can't see the unlinked metaverse of blockchain and cryptocurrency settlement systems. I think a discussion of sustainability, in the end, involves something bigger than the metaverse along with a new paradigm of property and asset liquidation. This liquidation of goods and assets is associated with the whole proof-of-work, proof-of-efficiency thing that blockchain brings, so in most situations as far as we go in the perspective that we have today, I would agree that we can all be more sustainable, but I think I would prefer to go a little further and be able to see all the elements.”
What can the financial sector be doing to be prepared for the future to come?
“What we are doing is experimenting with the different forms that the metaverse offers us today, we have even already done different tests in Bradesco. We even carried out an experiment with NTT DATA from the metaverse related to real estate credit that we intend to bring to our customers. Now other lines of work are opening up to be able to understand the maturity of the platforms and technology. We need to learn more to give customers better experiences and also increase the number of experiments.”
What are, in your opinion, the possible uses/services that the financial industry can offer at this time?
“Initially, we mapped the metaverse with a focus on training our employees and partners. Bradesco today has a network of 40,000 points where distribution is through third parties, and this requires massive training. This implies a significant investment on our side, which is why training is one of the topics that we understand to be key. The second use case has to do with increasing the perception of innovation among our high-income clients, since the whole part of investment advice, we understand that it is also an important field for us. The third topic has to do with understanding certain complex products that require the interaction of professionals on our side, and the fourth use case has to do with the interaction between professionals and the ecosystem. These four dimensions are what we see today as real and concrete”
How do you think the metaverse will unfold and transform financial industry in the medium term?
“As I said earlier, we do not view the metaverse disconnected from the settlement infrastructure, so I cannot give this answer unrelated to any change in that way. So, looking at the metaverse in a more complete way, understanding that we are facing a new way of relating goods and value of our customers and of carrying out transactions with them, then the role of the banks goes further there, working to safeguard and preserve it monetary value of families. The metaverse will become the interface so that we can relate to our experts”
What are in your opinion (if any) the concerns or threats to the financial industry?
“Our main concern has to do with identity. How do I control the identity of people in the metaverse? We are also concerned with how to control transactions and payments in this new world”
Are regulators / policymakers ready for the metaverse?
“I don't think the regulator's concerns are related to technology, rather to everything we have just discussed related to identity preservation, money laundering, transactionality. In short, to ensure that in the use of the metaverse there is preservation of the regulating spirits”
Is your company directly or indirectly involved in any metaverse initiative right now?
“Bradesco already has made some experimental inversion. He would say that we are still in this investment phase. Most of the steps we have taken up until now have been focused on the education of our employees. More than 3,000 of our employees are being educated in what is the metaverse in its possibilities and currently we have four tests being executed. These tests have the objective of testing the technology and its uses with our customers of the younger generation. We are also testing the construction of a new interface for Bradesco in the metaverse so that we can master the technology and understand how far our customers are already educated in this new interface to be able to carry out financial transactions”