How technologies are empowering the financial services?
Firms, such as banks, insurers, and other lending institutions leverage new technologies to ensure that their business operations do better in terms of figuring out different ways to serve their clients. The financial services industry has witnessed unmistakable transformation after using innovative products, over the recent decades.
Changes they witnessed in their business operations were –
- Payment types, including credit and debit cards.
- Simplified transaction processing through telephone and online banking.
- Saving alternatives, including structured products, investment funds.
From transforming e-commerce for financial assets to risk management, technologies have done tremendous contributions in helping the financial services industry. No doubt, the financial services firms must consciously discern changes introduced by new technologies and embrace them to enhance customer experience and their business profits.
Disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics, robotics, the cloud, and blockchain are growth catalysts for the financial services industry.
The evolving customers’ expectations
Customers are undoubtedly important factors for banking and financial services firms. However, what main thing to understand here is understanding the evolving nature of customer’s expectations and preferences. Experts believe that most of the customers in today’s times love to do banking with the lending institutions through their apps rather than making an in-person visit at their branch offices. And most of these customers say that the importance of their smartphone is more than the wallet when it comes to powering financial transactions.
Customers appreciate seamless experience of doing financial transactions with their banks, and mobile applications have done a tremendous job in improving their online experiences. The increasing importance of mobile apps in augmenting customer’s user experience lays the foreground for an idea that why financial services firms are on cloud nine. It is so because of extending seamless customer experiences through management of their accounts via mobile and connected devices.
That said, if a bank doesn’t provide an engaging customers-experience with its services, the customers intend to switch over to its competitor or someone offering an innovative digital experience resonating with their expectations and preferences. So, forget that the customer’s loyalty would remain attached to your banking system forever. In today’s era of rapid change in technological innovations, any firm providing a better and more seamless banking experience to their customers is bound to stay in the market.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic process automation is one of the creative technologies that help financial services firms to become more efficient and effective in serving their customers. You see, conversational AI is an instance of technological innovation that allows financial firms to extend improved digital experiences to customers at scale. Besides, the technology makes it easy for customers to be autonomous in controlling their finance-related activities without relying on human support.
For instance, Chatbots are emerging as one of the finest technological innovations in robotic process automation that ensures complaints of customers are instantly replied to, together with assuring quick resolution of the same, thereby boosting the individual banking experience of customers. The result of conversational interfaces for financial services firms is that they get customer feedback, thus helping them tweak or modify anything in their business operations that is worth improving or removing to make banking more customer-centric.
RPA can facilitate various key banking functions, such as –
- Customer onboarding.
- Verification.
- Risk assessment.
- Security checks.
- Data analysis.
- Data reporting.
- Compliance process.
Handling different administrative activities.
When these processes are automated, the banking functions of financial institutions become more efficient and customer-oriented. Moreover, the result of unburdening work pressures of employees is also a benefit given by automation that a banking firm can use to perform more complex and value-adding activities.
Going contactless payments
The widespread panic created by the Covid-19 pandemic among people and banking institutions has foregrounded a contactless payment system to ensure the distancing of people from one another without depriving their financial needs of fulfillment.
Though the idea of having a cashless society was evident before the pandemic, the advent of contactless payment technology and its hygiene benefits has materialized the idea, which has now grown exponentially. For example, mobile wallets have facilitated quick financial transactions, thereby giving users a fantastic experience of saving their time and enjoying digital banking experience right from the comfort of their home or anywhere.
The FinTech factor
The financial services industry has gone through a big push for innovation because of the advent of FinTech companies. Their use of cutting-edge technology to outdistance competitors in the game, including financial services firms, has dramatically influenced the customer battleground. These companies carry an approach of digital-first and customer-centric, which has given them an edge over competitors in the market. Reportedly, FinTech services enjoy improved growth of 64% while their investment apps rose by 88% in 2020, and payment apps grew by 49% globally.
Winding-up
Innovative technologies like artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics, blockchain, etc. have perfected the banking system of financial services firms. They are being maximized by alternative lending institutions to streamline loan sanctioning processes and make loan approval faster and seamless for the qualifying businesses. The trend is indicative of how cutting-edge technologies would keep empowering financial services firms, thereby benefiting the customers in the acquisition of seamless and hassle-free experiences.
