Tech Innovations in banking and financial services

Tata Communications is breaking new ground by achieving inclusion in its second Gartner Magic Quadrant, being recognized as a top employer year on year and leading innovation to tap market changing opportunities.

I am always amazed at the variety and volume of new technological innovations hitting the market today. “Disrupt or be disrupted” – isn’t that the buzz phrase going around?  All to attract, expand and retain long-term relationships with customers who are demanding changes and expecting excellence.

A similar story is fast emerging in the banking and financial services industry. The rise of FinTech in a digitized world is creating new waves. New models are quickly emerging in the chase to efficiently and effectively satisfy consumer needs. In other words, creating that exceptional differentiated user experience to enable convenience, personalization, and flexibility.

The emergence and evolution of FinTech could have multiple meanings for financial services organizations. It may create competition, collaboration or co-opetition – all in the same breath.

According to PWC, mainstream financial institutions are rapidly embracing the disruptive nature of FinTech and forging partnerships in efforts to sharpen operational efficiency and respond to customer demands for more innovative services. In fact, 82% of financial institutions expect to increase FinTech partnerships in the next three to five years.

Customers – driving change and adoption

The quest for delighting customers is front and center for all businesses and especially so in the financial sector. Case and point – according to the Digital Banking report, over 70% of financial institutions globally placed “improving the customer experience” as one of their top 3 strategic priorities for 2017.

I truly believe that technological innovations – those that provide the speed and agility to help our customers deliver new services to their customers – are at the heart of any customer-centric endeavor. In the banking industry, these include the ability to conduct transactions on the go, access to next-gen technologies such as remote expert consultation over video or chatbots, intelligent trading platforms with analytics, personalized attention and more. As a result, a need for partnerships has arisen in order to fulfil those innovative ambitions.

Institutions like JPMorgan have been leaders in this space. In early 2016, it became the first US Bank to partner with a FinTech company, joining OnDeck to unveil a small business lending partnership. Over the last two years, the program has offered a seamless small business lending experience to customers that the bank would likely not have reached if not for the partnership. And last fall, the company launched Finn by Chase, an app aimed at millennials that allows customers to open accounts, make deposits, issue checks and track spending – all from their phones.

At Tata Communications, we’re helping banks improve their customer service through easier communications access. For example, we partnered with one of India’s biggest investment banks to embed ‘in browser’ video conferencing for their VIP customer relationship management team.

This helped to develop a more intimate, premium service for the bank’s most important customers, ultimately delivering higher financial returns and increased loyalty as well as unleash the potential of real time communications.

In my next blog, I’ll delve deeper into the digital transformation of financial services.