Trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to IT issues is a challenging task. Emerging technology forces in the financial services industry are already impacting business. The convergence of these forces does present challenges; however, it also provides a window of opportunity for financial institutions to elevate business performance and gain a competitive advantage. Perficient provides a monthly perspective on some of the most talked about IT issues and emerging trends to help industry professionals identify and rationalize their IT investments.
Mobile Leads “Nexus of Forces” Charge
Financial services organizations are mapping their customer-centric initiatives to mobile banking solutions in order to capture marketshare and gain a competitive advantage. Today’s consumer expects technology at their fingertips whenever they want it and however they need it.
- Mobility Matters – What’s in Your Digital Wallet?
- Financial Services eBusiness Teams Need a Tablet Strategy
- Banks Continue Focus on iPhone Apps as Consumers Shift to Android
Prepaid Cards Present Opportunity
As competition in consumer banking continues to rise, banks are looking at new and innovative ways to capture additional marketshare. Banks are increasingly interested in prepaid cards as an alternative to traditional checking accounts. The ability to attract new customers, as well as offer additional products to existing customers, are the main motivation for offering prepaid cards.
- More Banks Offering or Looking at Prepaid Cards
- Bluebird versus Greendot. Prepaid Wins.
- Why Bankers Should Fear Bluebird
- It’s Time to Regulate Prepaid Cards as Bank Accounts
Big Data Helps Banks Find Value in Customer Data
Big Data continues to be a controvercial, yet growing technology in banking. In financial services, the ability to use tools to understand and interpret Voice of Customer (VOC), risk and fraud patterns, and, in concert with mobile banking apps, offers real-time segmentation to build customer loyalty and retention, and the highest return in terms of value. As banks continue to evaluate Big Data for their business, trends in cloud services, data appliances, open source tools, social media streams and text analytics offer low-risk strategies for adoption in financial services.
- Big Data in Financial Services – Improving Performance with Data-driven Decisions
- Big Data: Big Opportunity in Banking…Or Big B.S.?
- BNY Mellon’s Big Plans for Big Data
- Banks Dig for Data “Oil” in Online World
Payments Continue to Evolve
To remain “top of mind” and “top of wallet” in consumers’ perception, banks must define their tactical and strategic plans in concrete terms and decide which payment capabilities best represent customer needs. Banks must rationalize mobile payments as a key customer channel to be competitive against emerging capabilities of non-bank payment providers.
- Virtual Currencies Will Explode Thanks to Mobile Games
- BofA Takes Aim at Square with New Mobile-pay Service
- Worldwide Mobile Payments Volume to Hit $1 Trillion by 2017 – IDC
IT Innovation Leads Bank 3.0 Revolution
As described by Gartner, the “Nexus of Forces” created by the convergence of mobile, social, cloud and information is impacting the financial services industry. The power of these forces in addition to the competitive landscape in financial services will continue to drive IT spending and innovation. Banking CIOs must learn to harness the power of these forces and help lead their organizations to be successful in the digital age of banking.
