Money matters, and therefore does the banking industry too. It is flourishing, focusing on technological advancements. The trends in the banking industry change year after year with better innovations, increasing number of startups, mergers and acquisitions and customer expectations.

According to a study, 84% of banks globally have increased their investment in innovation in 2014, as compared to 13% in 2009. These figures clearly describe the importance that technology has generated in the eyes of banks.

What are banks doing in technology?

Banks are focused on tailoring their products and services according to the requirements of individuals and, as a result, providing them with highly personalized experiences. This practice helps them to engage and retain customers. They are also trying to enhance their current processes to increase banking productivity and customer satisfaction. Some examples of banks implementing latest technologies are as follows:

1. Biometric recognition is being used by banks in order to safeguard vital information and even tailoring digital signage. This technology recognizes customers immediately when they try to connect with the bank’s mainframe through a connected device, and retrieves customer information for branch staff and other assisted or self-service services to deliver personalized service.
2. Alfa-Bank, a Russian bank, launched a new activity savings account reflecting customer’s workout performance. The account is connected to a common activity-tracking wearable like Fitbit or Jawbone Up. The customer assigns a cash value to every meter walked through the day and their savings are transferred automatically to a special activity account which rewards them with higher interest.
3. A sound verification system was announced by Barclays to verify users based on their speech patterns. The system stores a recording of the customer’s voiceprint. After an initial recording, the customer will be able to talk to a customer service agent, and during this time their voice is verified against the stored voiceprints. This biometrics solution cuts down the time it takes for customers to verify their identity.
4. Big Data is one of the most talked about thing in the technology space in recent times. The vast amount of data that is up for grabs is a puzzle that has the capability to unlock major secrets of consumer behavior. It will give the banks an ability to customize their services on one to one basis.

As we know, the key to the success of a banking service lies in its ability to form a relationship with the clients. Transactions are becoming more and more intelligent (capturing data through cards), giving banks an opportunity to grab more data about their clients. The challenge now for banks is to capture relevant information out of this data.

Major technology innovation areas for banking technology

With rapid development in technology, businesses all over the world are getting disrupted. Banks realized a long time ago that they need to continuously invest in technology to remain relevant in this age. There are many more innovations taking place in banking technology and the ones mentioned here are just the general trends that most of the banks are employing, in order to have the most effect on banking revenues in the coming decade.

#BringItOn