FinAi Podcast

Bank Automation News digs into a study from digital banking solutions provider Infosys Finacle that surveyed more than 1,165 executives at banks of all types regarding their use of retail digital banking technology. 

"Almost 36% of bankers believe that the big tech players like Apple and Google or leading consumer technology companies like Amazon will lead the way in terms of payments business and cards business, as well as some of the digital delivery of banking services," Rajashekara Maiya, vice president of global business consulting at digital banking solutions provider Infosys Finacle, told BAN. 

The study dives into banks' innovation successes during the COVID-19 pandemic, banks' maturity with digital transformation, how banks will be focusing their digital banking spending, whether banks increased or decreased particular digital banking investments, and how much success — or lack thereof — banks have had with specific digital banking technologies, including open banking application programming interfaces (APIs), mobile banking apps and blockchain technology. 

Among other areas, the study looked at where banks expect the most innovation will take place over the next five years and found that: 

·       53% of respondents expect it will be in bank product delivery; 

·       20% said they expect the most innovation in individual bank products; 

·       17% said they anticipate the biggest innovation will come from industry players that will compete with traditional banks; and 

·       11% said they expect the most innovation in consumption of bank product use, or changes from the end user perspective. 

Other items the study addressed include how banks rate their ability to keep up with new ideas in the market and how successful they've been in addressing legacy technology and system integrations. 

Bank Automation Summit, taking place March 1-2 in Charlotte, is the first and only event to focus solely on automation in banking. The event will feature the brightest minds from across financial services on intelligent automation strategies and deployment. Learn more and register here for Bank Automation Summit 2022.

In this Weekly Wrap episode of “The Buzz” podcast, the Bank Automation News team talks findings in Microsoft’s Work Trend Index Frontline Workers survey, which found that more than 40% of the global workforce plans on quitting their job this year. The survey also revealed that two-thirds of banking and financial services employees feel supported and pleased about workplace technology.  

The BAN team also discusses the launch of a digital wallet solution that provides employees instant access to their earned wages, along with the ability to transfer funds and make real-time payments to a range of institutions. Finally, the team discusses the first BAN survey roundup, which is set to become a regular feature on the site.  

Listen in for a discussion of these topics and more in today’s episode of the Weekly Wrap podcast, with BAN Deputy Editor Loraine Lawson and Associate Editors Aaron Marsh and Alijah Poindexter for the week ended Jan. 14, 2022. 

Financial institutions should prepare for widespread use of real-time payments in the coming months, as well as the resulting security risks, group president of enterprise banking at core provider Computer Services Inc. (CSI) shares in this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. 

CSI’s Giovanni Mastronardi discusses how the Federal Reserve-backed instant Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, along with the prevalence of real-time payment platforms like Venmo and PayPal, will foster innovation for community banks and their customers. 

“There’s going to be some competition,” Mastronardi tells Bank Automation News. “You're going to have merchants who can do the ACH and might feel better about it. Can I do a real-time ACH for less per transaction than if I take a debit transaction?” 

Real-time payments will also afford fraudsters the ability to bypass standard security measures, like two-step authentication and “card not present” purchase alerts, he cautions, adding that financial service providers must adapt their security strategies. 

“As the entire world becomes real-time, no longer is two-factor authentication going to be considered quite as secure,” Mastronardi says. “We're in the process of looking at things like keystroke and mouse tracking. If I'm on my computer, it can tell it's me and not somebody who's taken over for me.” 

While community banking customers may initially resist added security measures, the end result is a safe and deeply automated experience, he says. 

In this Weekly Wrap episode of "The Buzz" podcast, the Bank Automation News editors unpack  what could become a trend in regulatory fines in 2022 as well as predictions for core and cloud banking.  

The BAN team addresses one automation company's prediction that repeat errors stemming from spreadsheets and other manual process could soon see much bigger fines from U.S. regulators. The team also drills down on core and cloud industry predictions[JC1] [AM2]  and the role microservices will play in financial services this year. 

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more in today's episode of the Weekly Wrap with BAN Deputy Editor Loraine Lawson and Associate Editors Aaron Marsh and Alijah Poindexter for the week ended Jan. 7, 2022.

Bank Automation Summit, taking place March 1-2 in Charlotte, N.C., is the first and only event to focus solely on automation in banking. The event will feature the brightest minds from across financial services on intelligent automation strategies and deployment. Learn more and register for Bank Automation Summit 2022.

In this Weekly Wrap episode of "The Buzz" podcast, the Bank Automation News editors discuss HSBC and IBM's use of distributed ledger technology to conduct commercial central bank digital currency (CBDC) transactions, including foreign exchange settlements. 

The BAN team also addresses a prediction from the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization and Aite-Novarica Group that the Canadian prepaid payments market will reach $6.77 billion in one-time card and account "loads" by the end of the year, a nearly 100% increase since 2019. Finally, the team dives into how machine learning and automation can help banks identify fraud and money laundering more efficiently. 

Tune in for a discussion of these topics and more in today's episode of the Weekly Wrap with BAN Deputy Editor Loraine Lawson and Associate Editors Aaron Marsh and Alijah Poindexter for the week ended Dec. 17, 2021.

Bank Automation Summit, taking place March 1-2 in Charlotte, N.C., is the first and only event to focus solely on automation in banking. The event will feature the brightest minds from across financial services on intelligent automation strategies and deployment. Learn more and register for Bank Automation Summit 2022.

Digital banking usage is up at Citizens, with 90% of consumers and 86% of businesses reporting that they use digital channels for their banking needs — a significant increase over usage during COVID-19 lockdowns, says Beth Johnson, chief experience officer at Citizens Financial Group, in this episode of "The Buzz" podcast.

Last year, 85% of consumers and 71% of businesses reported using digital channels. "Digital is here to stay, and that's not really surprising to me when you think about our daily lives," Johnson tells Bank Automation News.

The $187.5 billion Citizens recently released its Banking Experience Survey 2021, which this year polled approximately 1,000 consumers and 260 business leaders. 

For financial advice and more complex transactions, nearly two-thirds of consumers and businesses want human interaction, the survey found. That's about the same for consumers in 2020, but down from 73% for businesses in 2020. 

Those findings could be instructive for banks and financial institutions to focus branch personnel on more complex interactions, Johnson notes, but they also point to the opportunity for virtual consults — such as video chats via digital channels — which are becoming a preference for customers. 

Sixty-five percent of consumers and 82% of businesses said they feel at least "somewhat comfortable" sharing additional information and data with banks for a more tailored customer experience, according to the survey. 

"In a digital transformation, think about that also as a data and analytics transformation," Johnson tells BAN. "Our clients really want us to be able to provide them keen insight." 

Banks and financial institutions need to make that insight personal for each customer — and automation can play a critical role in that, Johnson explains.