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Wikipedia
Application Of Digital Financial Services
Digital banking is part of the broader context for the move to online banking, where banking services are delivered over the internet. The shift from traditional to digital banking has been gradual and remains ongoing, and is constituted by differing degrees of banking service digitization. Digital banking involves high levels of process automation and web-based services and may include APIs enabling cross-institutional service composition to deliver banking products and provide transactions. It provides the ability for users to access financial data through desktop, mobile and ATM services.
A digital bank represents a virtual process that includes online banking and beyond. As an end-to-end platform, digital banking must encompass the front end that consumers see, back end that bankers see through their servers and admin control panels and the middleware that connects these nodes. Ultimately, a digital bank should facilitate all functional levels of banking on all service delivery platforms. In other words, it should have all the same functions as a head office, branch office, online service, bank cards, ATM and point-of-sale (POS) machines.
The reason digital banking is more than just a mobile or online platform is that it includes middleware solutions. Middleware is software that bridges operating systems or databases with other applications. Financial industry departments such as risk management, product development and marketing must also be included in the middle and back end to truly be considered a complete digital bank. Financial institutions must be at the forefront of the latest technology to ensure security and compliance with government regulations.
The earliest forms of digital banking trace back to the advent of ATMs and cards launched in the 1960s. As the internet emerged in the 1980s with early broadband, digital networks began to connect retailers with suppliers and consumers to develop needs for early online catalogues and inventory software systems.
By the 1990s the Internet became widely available and online banking started becoming the norm. The improvement of broadband and ecommerce systems in the early 2000s led to what resembled the modern digital banking world today. The proliferation of smartphones through the next decade opened the door for transactions on the go beyond ATM machines. Over 60% of consumers now use their smartphones as the preferred method for digital banking.
The challenge for banks is now to facilitate demands that connect vendors with money through channels determined by the consumer. This dynamic shapes the basis of customer satisfaction, which can be nurtured with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Therefore, CRM must be integrated into a digital banking system, since it provides means for banks to directly communicate with their customers.
There is a demand for end-to-end consistency and for services, optimized on convenience and user experience. The market provides cross platform front ends, enabling purchase decisions based on available technology such as mobile devices, with a desktop or Smart TV at home. In order for banks to meet consumer demands, they need to keep focusing on improving digital technology that provides agility, scalability and efficiency.
A study conducted in 2015 revealed that 47% of bankers see potential to improve customer relationship through digital banking, 44% see it as a means to generate competitive advantage, 32% as a channel for new customer acquisition. Only 16% emphasized the potential for cost saving.
Major benefits of digital banking are:
- Business efficiency – Not only do digital platforms improve interaction with customers and deliver their needs more quickly, they also provide methods for making internal functions more efficient. While banks have been at the forefront of digital technology at the consumer end for decades, they have not completely embraced all the benefits of middleware to accelerate productivity.
- Cost savings – One of the keys for banks to cut costs is automated applications that replace redundant manual labor. Traditional bank processing is costly, slow and prone to human error, according to McKinsey & Company. Relying on people and paper also takes up office space, which runs up energy and storage costs. Digital platforms can future reduce costs through the synergies of more qualitative data and faster response to market changes.
- Increased accuracy – Traditional banks that rely mainly on paper processing can have an error rate of up to 40%, which requires reworking. Coupled with lack of IT integration between branch and back office personnel, this problem reduces business efficiency. By simplifying the verification process, it’s easier to implement IT solutions with business software, leading to more accurate accounting. Financial accuracy is crucial for banks to comply with government regulations.
- Improved competitiveness – Digital solutions help manage marketing lists, allowing banks to reach broader markets and build closer relationships with tech savvy consumers. CRM platforms can track customer history and provide quick access to email and other forms of online communication. It’s effective for executing customer rewards programs that can improve loyalty and satisfaction.
- Greater agility – The use of automation can speed up both external and internal processes, both of which can improve customer satisfaction. Following the collapse of financial markets in 2008, an increased emphasis was placed on risk management. Instead of banks hiring and training risk management professionals, it’s possible for risk management software to detect and respond to market changes more quickly than even seasoned professionals.
- Enhanced security – All businesses big or small face a growing number of cyber threats that can damage reputations. In February 2016 the Internal Revenue Service announced it had been hacked the previous year, as did several big tech companies. Banks can benefit from extra layers of security to protect data.
A key in which digital banks can gain a significant competitive edge is developing a more robust IT architecture. By replacing manual back-office procedures with automated software solutions, banks can reduce employee errors and speed up processes. This paradigm shift can lead to smaller operational units and allow managers to concentrate on improving tasks that require human intervention.
Automation reduces the need for paper, which inevitably ends up taking up space that can be occupied with technology. By using software that accelerates productivity up to 50%, banks can improve customer service since they will be able to resolve issues at a faster pace. One way a bank can improve its back end business efficiency is to divide hundreds of processes into three categories:
- full automated
- partially automated
- manual tasks
It still isn’t practical to automate all operations for many financial firms, especially those that conduct financial reviews or provide investment advice. But the more a bank can replace cumbersome redundant manual tasks with automation, the more it can focus on issues that involve direct communication with customers. The obstacles currently preventing banks from investing in a more digital back end environment are:
- banks have traditionally prioritized launching new products that are still difficult to automate
- mergers and acquisitions, new products and government regulations have already established complex IT architecture difficult to revise
- IT teams do not always grasp business priorities
- many banks lack the in-house IT expertise beyond traditional mainframe environments.
Digital cash eliminates many problems associated with physical cash, such as misplacement or the potential for money to be stolen or damaged. Additionally, digital cash can be traced and accounted for more accurately in cases of disputes. As consumers find an increasing number of purchasing opportunities at their fingertips, there is less need to carry physical cash in their wallets.
Other indications that demand for digital cash is growing are highlighted by the use of peer-to-peer payment systems such as PayPal and the rise of untraceable cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Almost anything imaginable that can be paid with physical cash can theoretically be paid with the swipe of a bank card, including parking meters. The problem is this technology is still not omnipresent. Cash circulation grew in the United States by 42% between 2007 and 2012, with an average annual growth rate of 7%, according to the BBC.
The concept of an all digital cash economy is no longer just a futuristic dream but it’s still unlikely to outdate physical cash in the near future. All digital banks are possible as a consumer option, but people may still have a need for physical cash in certain situations. ATMs help banks cut overhead, especially if they are available at various strategic locations beyond branch offices.
Emerging forms of digital banking are
- BaaS – Banking as a Service (allows for third party integration)
- BaaP – Banking as a Platform (for integrating core systems with software)
- Cloud-based Infrastructure (allows less reliance on IT staff)
- White Label Banking (such as co-branded credit cards)
These solutions build on enhanced technical architectures as well as different business models.
The decision for banks to add more digital solutions at all operational levels will have a major impact on their financial stability. While not all banks are in a position to make quick changes to IT infrastructure or the architecture on top of it, banks aiming to be disrupters can move toward broad end-to-end automation can do so over about a six-month time frame.
Fintech a portmanteau of “financial technology” refers to firms using new technology to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services. Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud computing, and big data are regarded as the “ABCD” (four key areas) of FinTech. The use of smartphones for mobile banking, investing, borrowing services, and cryptocurrency are examples of technologies designed to make financial services more accessible to the general public. Financial technology companies consist of both startups and established financial institutions and technology companies trying to replace or enhance the usage of financial services provided by existing financial companies. A subset of fintech companies that focus on the insurance industry are collectively known as insurtech or insuretech companies.
After reviewing more than 200 scientific papers citing the term “fintech”, a study on the definition of fintech concluded that “fintech is a new financial industry that applies technology to improve financial activities.” Fintech is the new applications, processes, products, or business models in the financial services industry, composed of one or more complementary financial services and provided as an end-to-end process via the Internet.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Cloud Computing, and Big Data are considered the four key areas of FinTech. Artificial intelligence refers to the intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast with “natural intelligence” displayed by humans and animals. AI is assuming an increasingly important role in traditional banking as it provides technologies such as voice recognition, natural language processing, and computer vision for user-account management and fraud detection, machine learning methods and deep learning networks for anti-moneylaundering and credit modeling. Mobile and internet payment systems are closely connected to cloud computing. The past ten years have witnessed increasing adoption of cloud computing by financial institutions around the globe.
Financial technology has been used to automate investments, insurance, trading, banking services and risk management.
The services may originate from various independent service providers including at least one licensed bank or insurer. The interconnection is enabled through open APIs and open banking and supported by regulations such as the European Payment Services Directive.
Robo-advisers are a class of automated financial adviser that provide financial advice or investment management online with moderate to minimal human intervention. They provide digital financial advice based on mathematical rules or algorithms, and thus can provide a low-cost alternative to a human advisers.
Global investment in financial technology increased more than 12,000% from $930 million in 2008 to $121.6 billion in 2020. 2019 saw a record high with the total global investment in financial technology being $215.3 billion, of which Q3 alone accounted for $144.7 billion in investment.
In H1 2021, Fintech deal volume hit 2,456 deals accounting for $98 billion in investment. Global VC investment was higher than $52 billion in H1’21, close to the annual record of $54 billion seen in 2018.
H1’21 saw $21 billion in corporate-affiliated VC investment. CVC deal volume reached a high of 284 in Q1’21, and then grew further to 312 in Q2’21.
The Americas saw about $51.4 billion of fintech investment in H1’21, with the US alone accounting for $42.1 billion. In the EMEA region, investment in fintech was very robust at $39.1 billion. In Asia-Pacific, fintech investment grew between H2’20 and H1’21 — rising from $4.5 billion to $7.5 billion, although it was subdued in comparison with previous record highs.
The nascent financial technology industry in London has seen rapid growth over the last few years, according to the office of the Mayor of London. Forty percent of the City of London’s workforce is employed in financial and technology services. As of April 2019, about 76,500 people form the UK-wide FinTech workforce, and this number is projected to rise to 105,500 by 2030. Of the current fintech workforce in the UK, 42% of workers are from overseas.
In Europe, $1.5 billion was invested in financial technology companies in 2014, with London-based companies receiving $539 million, Amsterdam-based companies $306 million, and Stockholm-based companies receiving $266 million in investment. After London, Stockholm is the second highest funded city in Europe in the past 10 years. Europe’s fintech deals reached a five-quarter high, rising from 37 in Q4 2015 to 47 in Q1 2016. Lithuania is starting to become a northern European hub for financial technology companies since the news in 2016 about the exit of Britain from the European Union. Lithuania has issued 51 fintech licenses since 2016, 32 of those in 2017.
In the Asia Pacific region, the growth will see a new financial technology hub to be opened in Sydney, in April 2015. According to KPMG, Sydney’s financial services sector in 2017 creates 9 per cent of national GDP and is bigger than the financial services sector in either Hong Kong or Singapore. A financial technology innovation lab was launched in Hong Kong in 2015. In 2015, the Monetary Authority of Singapore launched an initiative named Fintech and Information Group to draw in start-ups from around the world. It pledged to spend $225 million in the fintech sector over the next five years.
While Singapore has been one of the central Fintech hubs in Asia, start ups in the sector from Vietnam and Indonesia have been attracting more venture capital investments in recent years. Since 2014, Southeast Asian Fintech companies have increased VC funding from $35 million to $679 million in 2018 and $1.14 billion in 2019.