With technology being utilized in every industry imaginable, it’s hardly surprising that it’s made an appearance in the financial services industry as well. With the use of mobile technology in particular, investing has become more seamless than ever, with people having more flexibility when it comes to trading. Due to the transformational effect that mobile, cloud and other new technologies are having on our financial services industry, a huge amount of investment is happening to allow businesses to thrive off of these technological changes. In both the B2C and B2B space businesses are dedicating resource to fostering new start-ups based off these technologies, such as Unilever Foundry, NEX Opportunities, and Barclays Accelerator. Below, we’ve explored the main ways in which mobile technology has transformed the financial services industry.
Trading Can Be Done Anywhere at Any Time
Before mobile technology emerged, the process of trading could often be a lengthy process, meeting up with the opposite party at a time that suits both them and yourself. However, with just the few clicks of a button on our smartphones, trades can be done whenever, regardless of how busy the trader is. Because of this, the financial markets are more accessible than ever, making business easier for experienced traders who need to secure deals on a daily basis.
Access To Data Driven Money Management
It isn’t always the most practical to travel to an ATM to receive information about your cash flow or recent transactions. In fact, compared to the new money management features that we can access on our smartphones, there’s a lot that ATM’s can’t do! Whether you’re running a small business, or you just want to keep a close eye on your spending habits, data driven money management now allows customers to make smart decisions about their investments and how they spend their money. These mobile apps use infographics to allow customers to understand what their banking data represents, and thus represent a huge technological shift in the financial services industry, as understanding the latest trends of mobile technology can provide better service for consumers.
There Are Fewer Legal Barriers
Since 2010, over 25 companies have been granted banking permissions, or are instead applying to operate in the retail banking market, and it’s estimated that 80% of the start-up institutions go to markets with a mobile-first or mobile-only offering to consumers. Plus, with 5 major banks holding 80% of current accounts with fewer regulator barriers, we could expect to see a huge transformation in the financial services sector. Within the financial services industry, changes in regulation are designed to stimulate competition within the market, as well as provide customers with better value. However, staying on top of mobile regulatory changes is often challenging for financial services markets, as the changes are usually very significant and often cost quite a lot of money. Regulation has decreased over the years, although this hasn’t yet translated into a large number of customers switching banks – only time will tell.
Use of AI
The priority for financial services organisations is to ensure that all customer service facilities are of a high quality. By using AI, these companies can provide pristine services to their clients without the need of frequently training their staff – instead, they just need to programm a robot! Due to the extensive technology that resides within AI, these robots are able to retain huge amounts of data regarding financial services, streamlining the consumer’s customer service experience. With chatbots present on mobile apps and websites, customers are able to receive an instantaneous answer to their queries, providing them with higher satisfaction.
