Somewhere I have never travelled before

The traditional song for ringing in the New Year in almost every English speaking country in the world is Auld Lang Syne. It is generally credited to Robert Burns, but earlier versions precede his time. Burns combined a common Scottish folk song with his own lyrics to arrive at the version sung on New Year’s Eve.

Auld Lang Syne is about old friends who have parted and meet again. In honor of their long friendship, they share a drink and reminisce. The basic message is that we should not forget our old friends, and should celebrate when we meet again.

2008 has been a challenging year for our company, our industry and the broader economy. We are fighting our way through one of the worst economic environment of the past 40 years. Yet, in a year in which we have seen competitors fail outright, or be forced to merge with other companies to avoid failure, Bank of America has remained strong.

In fact, 2008 has been a challenging year for everyone, not just banking. Industries, countries and people around the world have felt the downturn. These are some of the most personally trying times many people have ever experienced. This environment challenges all of us to rise above and lead.

The folks over at GonzoBanker.com said it well.

As our industry awaits for new leadership to emerge, we can all be inspired by words that Abigail Adams once penned to her son, John Quincy: “These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues.”

 These challenges and the desire to set the pace for an industry were at the heart of the creation of the Center for Future Banking.  

Rather than using this time to make predictions about the future, let me give a glimpse of what we’ll be thinking about in 2009. Things we plan to actually make happen.

Customers - We are all going to go through a painful process of rebalancing our personal and family finances.  Debt had become an outsized variable in the equation. We will need to see a return to more of a savings culture. How do we enable our customers to take more control of their financial future?

Global risk models - As the world examines risk models, a global perspective becomes more important than ever. Achieving the tradeoffs which may be necessary to mitigate global risk equitably will be extremely difficult without a shared understanding of risk ownership. What are the core components that enable this transformation?

Information - Asymmetry is ending and it is increasingly evident that information usage will play an important role in how we empower our customers. What are the new economic models for trust and security? How will the next generation of information clouds emerge?

Mobile commerce - How will US mobile commerce move from trials and pilots to full scale commercialization?  What are the business model implications for banks, telecoms, handset providers and platforms?

Social Networks - How do we enable the seamless virtual to physical world interaction that will be required to fully realize the potential of social networks?

Collaboration, Talent and Balance - How will companies attract and retain the talent required to envision and lead interdisciplinary collaborations? And finally, it is more important than ever to find the right balance between focus for the long term and delivering short term wins.

As we head into 2009 the pace is going to be quick, and the unfolding events complex.  I believe it is going to be a year of great change, new partnerships and breakthroughs on many fronts.

2010 will be here before we know it. I look forward to working together to explore the possibilities.