Less than 10 mins
Key Takeaways from The Customer at the Centre Event in Istanbul
On 2 October in Istanbul, The Customer at the Centre: Experience Design in the Age of Digital Banking brought together executives, innovators, and thought leaders at Kolektif House Levent.
In this invite-only event, which we co-hosted with Inc. Türkiye Magazine and BTS&Partners, we explored how customer experience, design, and digital strategy are reshaping the future of finance.
The day began with Jon Blakeney, Group Partner & CEO of I-AM, who opened with Creating Life-Led Financial Ecologies. He asked: if 80% of banking interactions are now digital but customers still crave human connection, how can physical and digital spaces be reimagined? His call to rethink branches and platforms as ecosystems for trust, inspiration, and community challenged leaders to place experience, not transactions, at the core of financial design.
David Jiménez Maireles, Fractional Digital Advisor & Executive at D19 Advisory, followed with Experience First. He delivered a provocative insight: customers don’t buy products, they buy outcomes. Drawing on global examples, he revealed why sameness is the biggest threat to banks and how personalisation, authenticity, and proactive design win both loyalty and growth. His message was clear: the future belongs to those who design with empathy and precision.
The focus then shifted to regulation with a Q&A led by Tuğrul Sevim, Senior Partner at BTS&Partners, moderated by M. Attila Sevim. This session highlighted the rise of legal design — an approach that treats law not as a barrier, but as a framework for enabling innovation while safeguarding trust. It reminded the audience that trust is built not only by technology and design but also by the clarity, accessibility, and responsibility of the regulatory layer.
After a short break, attention turned to the panel: Redefining Finance Through the Customer Perspective, moderated by Nesibe Kırış Can with speakers Erdem Demir, Group Partner & Digital Director at I-AM, and Deniz Devrim Cengiz, Co-founder & CEO of ColendiBank. The discussion explored how customer experience has become the most critical competitive factor. Deniz positioned ColendiBank as Türkiye’s first “born-digital” AI-driven bank, emphasising inclusivity and embedded finance. Erdem traced the evolution of design maturity — from cosmetic to strategic, from design-aware to design-led. Together, they unpacked the differences between traditional banks and digital challengers: agility, speed, and design culture on one side; scale, legacy, and regulatory caution on the other. Highlights included a debate on whether speed always helps design, how to balance creativity with scalability, and where AI can enhance (but never replace) human-led innovation.
The event concluded with a Final Q&A: Current & Future Outlook, moderated by Nalan Yenigün Eren, Global Business Development & Marketing Director at I-AM, with both Blakeney and Maireles returning to the stage. This closing dialogue pulled together the day’s themes: that the financial services of the future must be dynamic, scalable, and emotionally connected, that authenticity is the only true differentiator in a crowded marketplace, and that ecosystems will increasingly expand beyond banking into retail, travel, and lifestyle sectors.
For I-AM, this event was a turning point: proof that when design, technology, and regulation collide, the result is not just functional systems but financial experiences that inspire, connect, and create measurable impact across every touchpoint.
