In his mind, the way to escape that is to build relationships. "It's about personalization. Customers want customization," and, ironic it may seem, at a time when more interactions are digital, a countervailing desire is for more individuality, more recognition of users as unique people, he said.

David Godsman, a senior executive at Bank of America who served as the opening keynoter, stressed the same themes. "Today the customer is in control, and solutions have to be flexible."

He added the apparent paradox. "High tech is higher touch." That is, the right computer-driven tools learn so much about their users, they deliver personalization that may reach higher levels than those achieved by in-person tellers and branch banking executives.

Consumers want to feel empowered and, today, with substantial social media tools at their disposal, they in fact have enormous power. "Empowerment," said Godsman, "is this presentation's most powerful word."

From where Godsman sits, two conclusions jump at him.  "There are no clear winners in the emerging payments space" and "placing multiple bets is a reality. You need a flexible strategy."

Consumer  want what they want, and an era when a financial institution could attempt to force fit the solutions it preferred is over. Now it comes down to listening hard and striving to stay relevant, he said.

And that becomes all the more pressing because so many nonbanks, from Walmart to Apple, are circling around the fringes of financial transactions with ever heightening interest in cherry picking the ones that are most attractive.

"New market entrants are changing the game for all of us," stressed Godsman.

He asked a provocative question. "What will be the next differentiator for financial institutions?" That is, the ones that win will do so how? Godsman offered no succinct prescription. But he did say, "Move quickly."