Making bold predictions is a fool's errand. Yogi Berra summed it up best when he spoke about the challenges of making predictions:

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

Still, predictions are a good indicator where the industry and world is heading. Here are the ones that we found worthwhile sharing: Top 10 Retail Banking Trends and Predictions for 2018. "“2018 will be known as the year of action. There’s been a lot of conversations, meetings, demos, plans, etc, but there is an urgency now to get projects planned and funded to create new customized engagement models and variety of products/services from which to choose for more personalized client experience.” Forrester's Predictions 2018: A year of reckoning. "2018 will be a year of reckoning for those that have held on too long or tried to bootstrap their way through transforming their business. Simply put, the distance between customer expectations and the reality on the ground is becoming so great that a slow and gradual transition is no longer possible. Incrementalism may feel good, but it masks the quiet deterioration of the business. Whether CEOs in these companies start to use their balance sheet wisely, find new leaders, develop aggressive turnaround plans, or do all of the above, they and their leadership teams must aggressively get on track to preserve market share and market standing." And 10 Predictions by Let’s Talk Payments. “With the increased familiarity and understanding of FinTech by banks’ senior management, expect many FinTechs to avoid innovation teams altogether and deal with the relevant business lines directly. As well as saving FinTech startups’ time and energy, this will continue to embed innovation as a mindset across the organization rather than having it limited to just the innovation team. Easier said than done.” Edelman publishes their 2018 Digital Trends. Highly encouraged to spend some time with it. 10 Trends for 2018 by Carat. A few highlights: ·       Rewards are now tied to your identity, the mergence of branded currencies? ·       Brands are starting to work more closely with disruptors, rather than replicating what they do. ·       Brands need to understand where they fit into the new Bitcoin ecosystem that will emerge. The world in 2018 as seen by Economist.