Zafar Imam is the CEO at FinShell (an OPPO group company) a leading financial services brand that introduced smartphone-based financial services in India. Zafar has more than two decades of experience in consumer banking and the FinTech space. He has worked with renowned Pvt banks, MNCs and NBFC. He served at Axis Bank for more than 13 years and worked in different roles building the consumer finance business.
Technology has made its mark in transforming the financial sector over the last few years. In fact, the advancements in the field of technology have made several processes in financial services much more efficient, user-friendly while eliminating manual errors. Further, it has facilitated better communication with the customer and enabled better customer grievances redressal mechanism.
According to the World Economic Forum, technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing, among others are together giving a new shape to the financial services thereby creating better opportunities for organizations as well as customers.
Against such a backdrop, watch out for what emerging technologies are really mean for the Financial Services Industry:
Digital Product Experience
In the financial sector, digital product experience promotes customer interactivity. At present, the digital experience platforms ensure smooth and efficient management of financial services. These help in precise analytics and compilation of data that are enhancing the overall experience of customers.
Blockchain
This technology is on the rise in the financial sector. Blockchain plays an important role in maintaining transaction-related information. It is also helping in eliminating manual errors to a larger extent. Plus, the process of transferring money to foreign nations is becoming more secure and faster, leveraging blockchain technology. Apart from all these, it can keep a track of transactions in an accurate manner, thereby reducing mistakes in the processes of the financial services.
Chatbots
These can be used for a wide range of financial services, including carrying out the transaction processes in a secure way. Chatbots have the potential to manage time-consuming, repetitive, and complex tasks. Besides, it is very suitable for assisting as well as addressing the queries of customers. For example, chatbots quickly answer the concerns of all those who need a loan, as a result, it makes the process much simpler. It also facilitates the promotion of a particular service or an offer introduced by a financial organization for its customers. Another noteworthy use of chatbots in the financial sector is the management of the privacy of data. It also ensures security through the proper authentication of users.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence has seen tremendous growth in financial services. Be it the operation of various financial services or improved customer experience, AI comes to good use. It has enabled financial organizations to better store abundant data that can help in making wise decisions regarding financial matters. In addition, machine learning can also be used for several purposes. It is not only making predictions based on statistics and algorithms but effectively handling data and information on a large scale. All in all, these are helping the institutions in the analysis of their financial decisions and results.
Robotic Process Automation
This technology increases the productivity of a financial institution by automating various tasks, thereby saving a lot of time as well as money. Speed and accuracy are the added benefits of automation. For instance, customer onboarding and KYC can be completed with a lot of ease. Account opening and processing of loans can also be done quickly through Robotic Process Automation. In this way, it has reduced the workload of the employees on repetitive tasks.
Cloud Computing
The application of cloud computing is expanding rapidly in the financial sector. It helps in the storage of overwhelmingly large amounts of data generated across financial institutions. Scalability of the resources is another big advantage of cloud computing. The cost-effectiveness of cloud computing is no less than a boon because it reduces the expenses of costly hardware and other infrastructural requirements. Besides, it also enhances the security features of the financial industry and enables better protection of data.
Instant Payments
It is a known fact that it is promoting financial inclusion. The wider adoption of instant payment is the outcome of the wave of digitization. In fact, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, instant payments have become the need of the hour. It also suits the needs of the customers of the present generation due to its speed. The penetration of smartphones has made instant payment methods more accessible and affordable to every section of society. According to a recent report of IBEF, digital payments will witness a noticeable rise in the next few years and it will account for 71.7% of all payments across India by 2025. The report further highlights that in 2020 instant payments constituted 15.6% of the total payments. The ease and comfort associated with instant payment technologies encourage people to use various financial services. It provides quick confirmation and detailed information of any kind of real-time payment activity. Hence, it is a completely secure mode of transaction.
Therefore, all the above mentioned technologies have brought a revolution in the financial services industry. They are not only revamping the industries while keeping pace with the changing demands but also ensuring seamless, secured, and simpler services to the masses.