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.
2013 FinTech Predictions Recap
As we started the new year, January proved to be a month chock-full of eye-opening and valuable financial services technology news designed to help organizations make smarter decisions for IT initiatives and elevate their business growth. We’ve compiled some of the top articles and blog posts covering industry predictions that will serve as the foundation for banking strategies in 2013.
- The Financial Brand: Retail Banking Trends and Predictions
- Perficient: Banking Technology Trends You Can’t Ignore in 2013
- Forbes: What Does 2013 Hold for Financial Services IT?
- Bank Marketing Strategy Blog: Banking Leaders Predict Major 2013 Trends
- BS&T: 2013 Forecast: The Hot Technologies That Will Define Banking
Mobile Banking is More Than a Trend, It’s Here to Stay
Mobile banking has become more than just a trend in the financial services industry. It has become a regular delivery channel and customer touchpoint for banking services. Today’s smartphone users expect to be able to manage their finances when they want, where they want, and how they want. Forrester predicts that the total number of US adults using mobile banking will grow from slightly more than 10 million today to more than 50 million by 2015. This remarkable growth should create a generational shift in mobile banking adoption percentages making this channel a top priority for banks as they continue to fine-tune their mobile strategies, improve functionality, and offer new features to distinguish the mobile channel.
- What Tablet Growth Means for Your 2013 Banking Services Strategy
- Rollup Post from Forrester: Tablet Banking
- The Truth About Mobile Offers and Rewards
- Wells Fargo, Ally Bank See the Camera as Key to Mobile Banking
Are Retailers Positioned for Mobile Payments Domination?
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. Juniper Research estimated that worldwide mobile payment volume would reach an incredible $240 billion this year making this a hard trend to ignore if you’re a financial services provider or bank.
- Times Running Out for Banks to Get into Mobile Payments
- Expect Mobile Payments to Have a Breakout Year
- MCX continues to add new merchant partners
- Starbucks still feeling a buzz from mobile payments
- The Importance of Disney’s MyMagic+
Big Data Hype, Disillusionment and Value
Gartner recently addressed its Big Data Hype Cycle as the technology is at the peak of inflated expectations and is falling into the “Trough of Disillusionment”. Big Data is still a nebulous term, yet at the same time, Big Data vendors are paving the way with new solutions and appliances at a rapid pace – all promising results. This natural progression in the lifecycle for quickly developing technologies, like Big Data, has caused a lot of hype and doubt inthe minds of financial services analysts, banking stakeholders, and IT professionals. It’s important that financial institutions take a step back and focus less on the technology, but rather refocus on the outcomes they want to deliver. Just because your bank may not be ready for Big Data (beyond risk and fraud detection) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking about the “Big” picture by developing a roadmap that addresses the Big Data ecosystem. After all, the volume, velocity and variety of banking data will only continue to grow. In the short-term, financial service providers should make information management a top priority with the goal of creating a trusted, single source of truth for their data assets. Therein lies the importance of master data management (MDM) programs for the industry. From there, banks can advance analytics, better respond to insights, and achieve marketing effectiveness as their banking technology practices mature.
- State Street’s Big (Data) Dig
- Big Data is Falling into the Trough of Disillusionment
- Roundup of Big Data Pundits’ Predictions for 2013
- The Empty Promise of Big Data
PFM Becomes More Integrated for Everyday Banking
We’re seeing more movement towards banks developing a more integrated strategy for personal finance management (PFM) tools as part of their online banking services and tablet banking applications. PFM helps strengthen the banking relationship by providing value and greater visibility into finances across multiple channels. As the rapid adoption of tablets continue to challenge smartphone growth, financial institutions can leverage unique experiences and interactions for customer touchpoints to enhance the digital banking experience.
