EXCLUSIVE- Blockchain technology and digital loans will continue to grow in 2018 as banks continue to work on their cybersecurity in the coming year, software provider Mitek predicts.

“It’s just logical that given the extent of recent data breaches, that we’re going to see more of the same. It will continue to accelerate” Sarah Clark, SVP, global product management for Mitek told Bank Innovation.

Financial institutions will experience a collective 150 million new account opening fraud attempts in the new year, Mitek is predicting as part of an upcoming list of predictions. The software company will release the list in full on December 19th.

As well as an increase in the amount of fraud attempts, the company is also predicting that banks will continue to experiment with blockchain (no surprise there), focusing their efforts on areas like KYC, or Know Your Customer, initiatives.

The company also has a few guesses for digital lending, predicting that, despite the recent struggles of marketplace lenders like LendingClub and SoFi, consumer digital lending will double in 2018 in all but one category.

“I would explicitly exclude mortgages from this prediction–there’s a lot more that has to happen with mortgages,” Clark said. “But for other types of lending, consumers should expect to see some changes to their user experience,” Clark said. 

Consumers are “pretty enthusiastic” about these coming changes, she said, especially as more banks and lenders are exploring technology like mobile to augment the traditional consumer lending experience.

While one should expect banks to grow more comfortable with digital initiatives and other experimental technologies such as blockchain in 2018, that doesn’t mean banks are totally ready to give up some of the more traditional methods of banking.

Branches, for example, will remain very much intact for the future, Clark said.

“I think branches are here to stay,” she said. “[And] the way they can be tied to the user experience, is to modernize.”

To learn more about the latest developments in online lending and digital banking, join us on March 5-6, 2018 at the Parc 55 in San Francisco for Bank Innovation 2018. Click here to register.