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Digital disruption in the banking sector is yet to make a big impact on the existing model but, pundits warn, it's only a matter of time before the impact of automated financial services is felt by the more than 25,000 people currently employed in banking in New Zealand.

CNN reports that at least 30% of bank jobs will be lost between 2015 and 2025. The US is already investing in robotics advice' (algorithmic guidance and advice) like Wealthfront, while others like Kensho produce detailed and accurate financial research reports in minutes rather than the days it takes analysts.

Jobs that are customer facing in particular, are under threat. Futurist Amy Webb says that as computers become smarter, we no longer need humans as intermediaries,

Professions whose basis is in transactions will be disrupted by machines there is no question. And it will happen fast," she said.

Here in New Zealand we have the disrupters such as peer-to-peer lending platforms Harmoney, Squirrel Money and more recently Southern Cross Finance the latter in the mortgage lending space. Disrupters have, so far, been too small to cause any real disruption, but the automation of financial services will almost certainly become a reality within a few years.

The big threat however, is likely to emerge when tech giants like Facebook, Google and Amazon turn their attention to banking services.

Bloomberg's Lionel Laurent describes the tech giants as relentlessly innovative.

Their reach -- Facebook alone boasts 1.65 billion monthly users -- and grip on customers' personal data is virtually unparalleled."

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reports that disruptive challenges are accelerating and will force banks to develop digital capabilities that radically simplify' operations and reinvent customer service .

BCG's Banking on Digital Simplicity report makes it clear that banks will have to reimagine customer journeys from front to back using digital technologies' and will need to create agile, simple, and highly collaborative organisations.

Ultimately the change means far fewer jobs, more lay-offs and a highly skilled tech force famous more for their computer and programming skills than financial nous.

The key to surviving digital disruption and remaining economically valuable is to become a perpetual learner. This involves:

1. Developing continuous learning as an effective skill in its own right; 2. Be prepared to invest personally in your own training; 3. Think digital (in the US more than 60 million people are shut out of jobs because they don't have digital skills); and 4. Forget about classrooms. In an already time poor environment, be prepared to learn in short bursts on the go.

The Economist reports that massive open online courses (MOOCs) have veered away from lectures on Plato or black holes in favour of courses that make their students more employable.

At Udacity and Coursera self-improvers pay for cheap, short programmes that bestow microcredentials and nanodegrees in, say, self-driving cars or the Android operating system. By offering degrees online, universities are making it easier for professionals to burnish their skills.

In short, if you're not on the verge of retirement, your future economic viability may well depend on your ability to recognise change before it happens, plan your future trajectory, learn new skills and adapt as a way of life.