Not everyone gets to attend Money20/20, one of the most prominent fintech and banktech events in the US, but those who can’t go can still unlock the opportunities that will be discussed there. Read on to learn the major trends in finance and banking tech, as shared by Money20/20 speakers, so you can pivot your business in this fast-paced market.
Trend #1: Know Your Customers and Focus on Them
It’s time to turn to a customer-centric approach in everything you do. This is not only because 86% of buyers are ready to pay more for better services. All customers are now prioritizing a better customer service experience, and won’t accept half measures. But how does this affect the finance and banking industries?
Speakers at Money20/20 advise businesses to select a narrow target audience, with unique demands, and develop products that fully meet those customers’ needs. This can be a solution to any problem, from a lending platform for specific customers, like students or immigrants, to software that can be customized for different categories of users.
Let’s review some of the projects that are doing just that, and which will be highlighted at Money20/20:
Example 1: NestReady
NestReady facilitates homebuyers in their journey through the mortgage process. The platform also allows for data collection and analysis in order to increase the number and quality of conversions between homebuyers and mortgage providers.
Example 2: Petal
Petal has created a solution addressing two distinct challenges:
- A no-fee credit card that’s available for everyone, even for people with no credit score.
- A convenient UI/UX for the management of income and expenditures.
Example 3: OnDeck
OnDeck is a platform that enables loans for businesses through a fully online application process.
DataArt’s Experience
It’s important to note that participants at Money20/20 aren’t limited to startups. Well-established private companies and even the public sector customize their market approaches to deliver valuable services for their clients.
DataArt has experience developing software solutions in the public sector, for example creating a blockchain-driven welfare payment tracking mobile app. This solution works with governments, public services, and non-governmental organizations to offer a highly secure method for making payments.
Neil Smullian, SVP, Business Development at DataArt, notes: “Today’s customer is savvy and expects a unique journey that is bespoke and tailored to their individual needs, wants, desires, geography, demographic, etc. However, it is not realistic to expect a full overhaul of the customer journey every few months. However, one approach is to simply refresh or update your UI/UX to deliver a perceived new experience to the customer. This is an area DataArt has had a lot of success in helping our customers keep their clients engaged.”
So What’s the Bottom Line?
Regardless of whether you’re a Chief Executive Officer at a fintech or banktech startup, or a Technology Officer at a well-established institution, you need to move fast. With over 12,000 fintech startups, this domain has no place for dawdlers.
Source: Statista
Businesses need to think over their unique product, develop and verify an MVP, and then expand to a meaningful solution for a wider audience. Staying nimble and adaptable is key. In order to succeed, hire only professionals in-house, and/or outsource to high-quality and reliable companies, so you can skim profits from the top of this domain.
Trend #2: Make Payments Cheap and Immediate
These days, people aren’t prepared to wait. With the countless opportunities provided online, they’re used to accessing information instantly, shopping on the go, and seeing services and goods delivered immediately.
More than half of retailers offer same-day delivery, 61% of consumers are likely to cancel their purchase if free shipping is disabled, and instantaneous free payments are the standard. So is your business up-to-speed?
Money20/20 will introduce some different solutions within this realm:
Example 1: LianLianPay
This is a payment solution that provides instant cross-border transactions with China-based companies.
Example 2: Airwallex
Airwallex allows for the creation of foreign accounts, with access to interbank exchange rates, and the ability to make transactions over (almost) the entire world.
DataArt’s Solutions
DataArt has multiple solutions, including (but not limited to) adopting blockchain technology to make transactions cheap, instant, transparent, and secure.
So What’s the Bottom Line?
If you’re one of the 88% of legacy banking organizations scared of falling behind the competition because of slow payments, money transfers, and personal loans, don’t worry. You can still meet your clients’ needs.
Stay in line with current trends by protecting your customers’ transactions and making them fast and affordable. You can then deliver unique services, by customizing your approach to payments based on the needs of your target audience.
Trend #3: Virtualize Financial Services and Benefit from Digitalization
The final major trend to be discussed at Money20/20 is the digitalization of financial services, including the automation of routine tasks. This challenge can be seen from a few different angles.
Virtualization
Firstly, some offline services will transition online, which means that your business needs to prepare for this transformation.
Imagine the change in the financial landscape that comes when a wave of digital banks spring up all over the world. You won’t retain your customers by carrying on as usual. And multiple speakers at Money20/20, including Zennon Kapron, founder of KapronASIA, confirm this.
DataArt, in turn, has other examples of how this trend will work. Let’s look at one of DataArt’s projects, the e-proxy voting system on top of blockchain, developed for the National Settlement Depository (NSD), a financial institution.
“The market requires another approach to voting systems to ensure a secure and transparent voting process for corporate actions,” explains Mr. Ambrogi from DataArt. “No technology could prevent human factors like double voting, or fraud as well as a blockchain can.
Automation
Another way in which digitization will affect the sector is through the implementation of trending technologies to automate. Anything that can be automated will be, and data-driven decisions will be based on information dashboards.
“Don’t miss the opportunity to enrich analytics and expand functionality with multiple integrations, visualizations, and automation. Integrate multiple separate systems into one product to facilitate the process of collaboration with your clients,” advises Mr. Ambrogi, based on his experience in designing bank software.
So What’s the Bottom Line?
There is no turning back for financial institutions; they must transform to remain competitive in the new technological era. According to PWC, 77% of incumbents working at such companies state that by 2020, they plan to adopt blockchain to simplify their internal processes.
Keep up with these trends and think of how your company can optimize its processes.
Originally published at https://blog.dataart.com on October 12, 2019.
