Technological advances have been the biggest disruptor of the financial industry. The more consumer expectations change, the more technology has to be introduced to keep up with the demands.

Digital banking

Digital banking platforms, such as mobile banking, phone payments and transactions, and ‘wallets’ to keep access of your cards on your phone are fast becoming the most popular way to spend, especially amongst young people.

This software allows customers to interact with their bank account at the touch of a button and receive customer service when needed in a flash. This saves the need for going into the bank and withdrawing money or requesting an appointment to discuss your account.

With digital banking, a customer can simply log in and order a prepaid card within minutes, which previously they would have had to ring or go into branch to discuss.

They can also transfer savings into online investment accounts, such as stocks & shares ISAs in an instant, thanks to fast payment protocols now in effect in the UK.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a piece of technology that allows banks and other financial bodies to monitor auditable data and smart contracts. The best auditing books have converged on the technology of blockchain as a way to provide live, real-time assurance over the completeness and accuracy of a ledger. It contains the potential for a financial accounting revolution.

Though bankers were once sceptical of the effectiveness of blockchain and concerns around its security levels, banks have begun introducing structured methods of how they can implement blockchain within their business. The primary reasons for this are to improve efficiency, provide accurate data, improve security of said data, and to save on money.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence is fast making its way into the financial industry. This is because automating services will save the industry a substantial amount of money that would have been spent on admin employment.

AI services will mainly be used as chatbots which can help customers with their queries and ideally direct them to the answer they are looking for without a customer service agent needing to interfere.

This can save hours of time in customer service calls and offset the demand placed on those who work within the customer care call centres.

Robot Process Automation (RPA)

Automation isn’t only used to aid with online chats. It can also be used to direct a customer to the right call line, be used to inform them of where they are within the call queue and provide them with automated call back services to inform them of any activity on their bank account. It can even be used to remind customers about their upcoming appointment with their bank.

RPA can save a lot of time and manual effort as it helps financial businesses to focus on the more important things like ensuring that their company security is of the highest quality and that their customers are receiving the highest quality services whilst banking with them. See the best banking books for more information.