The Integration of People and Technology The evolution of technology is at the heart of efforts to better serve customers. Adopting new technology is, therefore, critical for financial services organisations to thrive. Progressive financial services companies are on the lookout for new technologies to improve efficiency and speed of service, as well as provide a better customer experience. This is without doubt a direct result of the competition faced by consumer brands like Amazon, Facebook and Google. Even before the pandemic, customers increasingly expected easily accessible and fully personalised digital products and services. As a result, financial institutions were already rethinking processes, expanding tech investments and testing new applications. Incumbents have traditionally looked for technologies to increase efficiency and lower costs. FinTechs, by contrast, start with a customer problem, identify ways to address it with digital tools, and then build new business models around digital solutions. The digitisation of financial services is ongoing. Enterprises have a choice: make innovation the focus of a stand-alone organisation or integrate it throughout the business. The winners in this race will be the ones that marry technological innovation with the expectations of today’s consumer. The Progressive Consumer Over the last few years, some of the most influential global financial institutions have committed to reducing emissions attributable to their operations. They have also pledged to reshape their lending and investment portfolios to produce a net zero carbon footprint by 2050. ESG is big business. Banks are restructuring to adopt green pledges, and FinTechs are developing new solutions to address climate-related consumers and issues, all as part of detailed, overarching ESG strategies. ESGfocused FinTechs in particular have a unique ability to achieve rapid growth, deliver sustainabilityfocused innovation, and attract investment capital to support their efforts to improve the environment and society, all while generating substantial returns. All of this is being done due to the requirements of an ever-evolving and demanding consumer. The climate-centric FinTechs in the payments sector driving the biggest change are the ones focusing on influencing the spending behaviours of sustainabilityminded consumers. By engaging with this demographic, FinTechs can sustain their revenues by aligning financial transactions with ESG goals. Over the past decade, new digital FinTechs have begun to transform and disrupt the financial services sector. Technological advances in finance are not new, but progress has arguably accelerated in the digital age due to improvements in mobile communications, AI, machine learning, and information collection and processing technologies. This revolution was matched by an extraordinary increase in consumer expectations. The payments market in particular has experienced a rapid proliferation of digital innovations that make payments faster and cashless. Consumers in advanced and emerging markets have increasingly adopted FinTech services because of their convenience and lower cost. The challenge for both new and existing firms is to create and deliver new financial products and services as they strive to compete. 76% of adults around the world have an account today, up from 51% a decade ago.” “ “The likes of Netflix, Uber and even Airbnb all rose to prominence after the financial crisis in 2010 simply because they all provided solutions for consumers facing very real problems in a time of change.” Finance Monthly. Bank i ng & F i nanc i a l Se r v i ce s 33
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