Calm amidst the storm It’s a challenging time for everyone. The primary concern of all right now is to safeguard the health It’s a of those close to us and for whom we are responsible, and to do what we can to moderate the damage which the pandemic is causing. At the same time, we can think about what life and challenging business will be like once the crisis has passed, and about the measures we can take now to ensure that we and our clients emerge stronger and better equipped to deal with the future. time for The crisis is likely to accelerate many existing trends, like the shift to digital sales, so there can be long-term value in developing short-term mitigants. There is also a great opportunity to test—in an environment where customers may be willing to forgive experimentation—the efficacy of new everyone. advice and other customer value propositions to understand what works and what doesn’t. While the full economic impact of this crisis remains to be seen, banks have an opportunity to support both new and existing clients through this difficult time, and to emerge as trusted partners in market-leading positions. But they are only likely to achieve this if they are operationally equipped to do what is expected of them. What we have outlined in this paper is a good starting point for the many crisis-driven calls to action that banks are facing. Accenture is ready to help commercial banks go further and emerge stronger—providing the skills, capacity, support, and advice needed to shorten and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. 17 Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved.