Financial services firms have demonstrated remarkable resiliency and adaptability; yet their path ahead remains difficult.
Businesses face risks due to inflation, interest rates, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical unpredictability that must be balanced against competitive growth while increasing revenue streams and controlling costs.
organizations are turning to advanced technology solutions in order to automate back office processes, integrate systems and move into the cloud – creating an infrastructure which facilitates tech transformation, business priorities and regulatory compliance.
Back office transformation
Financial services industry will embrace back-office transformation with renewed vigor, with particular attention paid to the technologies enabling agility and operational efficiency. Technologies supporting banking-as-a-service, embedded solutions and secure environments will become key differentiators within their marketplaces.
Financial institutions increasingly rely on technological solutions such as advanced data collection and analysis, intelligent decisioning, open banking APIs, cloud computing and cybersecurity for back-office digital transformation projects. Yet financial institutions may face roadblocks to reaping maximum benefit from back-office digital transformation initiatives; poor project scoping; insufficient resources or skillsets; taking on too many technology projects at the same time can all become obstacles to realizing maximum return from these digital transformations.
For organizations to successfully address these challenges, initiatives should be prioritized according to which ones will have the biggest effect on customer experience and profitability. They should use tools that streamline activities and reduce waste – such as automation – while smart speakers may help customers gain insight into their account balances or transactions more quickly and save both time and money.
Customer experience
Modern consumers expect their financial service providers to act as personal partners and advisors, offering customized experiences in an accessible way. In order to do so, FSIs must leverage data to deliver an all-channel customer journey experience.
As part of its commitment to customer experience, banks leverage data and analytics to predict future customer needs. For instance, using customer information, banks may identify those needing additional help with money management or wealth building and then engage proactively with these customers by providing guidance and recommendations.
However, it’s essential to strike a balance between self-service and human interaction. Many consumers still prefer speaking directly with an advisor when they need assistance; to accommodate this preference, some banks are exploring how they can make AI experiences feel more personal; for example by using themes and emotion recognition algorithms within chatbots to identify issues important to customers.
Automation and integration
While interest rates, inflation, and geopolitical instability still impact the economy, financial services firms need to prioritize increasing revenues while simultaneously cutting costs and improving risk management. While these goals may sometimes conflict, having access to an advanced cloud platform with security protocols in place can help these businesses meet these objectives while adhering to regulatory compliance norms.
Automation can save financial services organizations a substantial sum and reduce operating costs significantly, freeing them up for expansion or customer acquisition efforts. Debt collection CRMs automate repetitive tasks like sending reminders to customers and reporting progress reports – improving repayment rates while simultaneously increasing sales team productivity.
AI-powered automation can also assist organizations to reduce response times and create personalized customer experiences. Chatbots and virtual assistants can quickly answer basic customer inquiries while providing them with tailored recommendations on finances – saving both time and effort in processing requests for service.
Regulatory compliance
As financial services firms operate within an increasingly volatile operating environment, regulatory compliance will remain an enormously challenging undertaking. Due to an ever-increasing number of risk factors – natural disasters, political unrest and climate change among them – financial services firms must factor into their risk calculations when planning for compliance purposes.
These trends will have an enormous effect on how financial service providers manage their business operations and compliance obligations. To meet them, reliable systems for responding to DDQs as well as having appropriate infrastructure, personnel, and external partners in place is key to maintaining compliance while mitigating operational risks.
Financial services organizations should develop an ongoing program to assess and mitigate risk and ensure they remain compliant, train employees on policies and procedures regularly, leverage technology solutions such as RegTech to reduce costs while streamlining compliance reporting – these initiatives will have an enormous impact on their success in 2023 and beyond.
