The FStech Podcast

Despite the best efforts of regulators, organised crime continues to represent a huge part of the global economy. Criminal groups are funnelling billions of dollars of revenue every year through accounts, which needs to appear to be legitimate. With the large transactions involved, criminals are favouring companies as convenient fronts to launder money at scale, because consumer accounts simply can't handle the numbers.

Banks who are found to be assisting organised crime by facilitating illicit transactions face huge potential financial losses, regulatory penalties, and the threat of long-term reputational damage. Many banks, even in a digital age, still rely on paper to a large degree, or struggle with a myriad of data access and data governance issues across different localities as they onboard corporate clients and carry out AML risk assessments. In response, many banks are exploring how they can leverage data analytics and real-time transaction monitoring in the fight against money laundering.

To delve further into these challenges, as well as some possible solutions, Will McCurdy, Content Editor at FStech spoke to Adam McLaughin, Global Head of Financial Crime Strategy and Marketing at NICE Actimize.

The tidal wave of digital financial services driven by the pandemic has put data and analytics squarely at the centre of growth strategies for FSIs.

But as customers demand ever-more personalised and efficient services many firms are struggling to keep up, with vital data stuck in silos and legacy systems making it a near impossible challenge to draw out key insights.

To tackle this challenge, many FSIs are exploring the potential of end-to-end data platforms, which use AI, machine learning and automation to consolidate data and unlock the potential of data assets.

To delve further into these topics and explore potential solutions, FStech was joined by Anubhav Mehrotra Vice President and Head of Financial Services UK&I at HCL Technologies.

In today's world of digital platforms, the insurance industry is racing to catch up with customer demand for real-time, personalised services across a range of channels and apps.

But as the InsurTech competitors step up the speed and ease of access to insurance and begin to build the Open Insurance ecosystem, more established players are struggling to prioritise and orchestrate the cultural, technological and infrastructural shifts necessary to adapt to the new realities of digital business.

During this podcast we were joined by Jeff Picozzi, global insurance lead at Red Hat look at some of the key modernisation strategies available to insurers and conduct a reality check on just how advanced the industry is in its shift to digital, as well as what the future of the Open Insurance ecosystem looks like.

Financial services institutions are increasingly turning to hybrid cloud solutions as they modernize their organizations and look to meet customer demand for digital services. But what does this actually look like?

Taking an open source approach to cloud can also help to overcome some of the key pitfalls many FSIs fall into when it comes to cloud transformation, such as cloud-vendor lock-in, growing regulatory pressures and the change in culture and skills required by new ways of storing, using and sharing data.

An open source approach to hybrid cloud can offer distinct benefits, such as enhanced support, more freedom with cloud - and vendor-agnositicism, and ability to scale with greater consistency and efficiency, but how advanced are FSIs in their cloud journeys, and what are some of the main business challenges faced by organisations as they seek to harness the advantages of the cloud?

To delve further into these challenges, FStech was joined by Nikolai Stankau, Director for Business Development at Red Hat.

In the last 12 months, a digital tidal wave has hit the financial services industry, leading to a corresponding surge in data volumes. But as the data landscape becomes more complex, many financial services providers are buckling under pressure to ensure that more data translates into greater value for the customer and better business decision making.

With data locked in silos across disparate business units, and legacy technology often providing a further barrier, many are finding that efforts to leverage data from across the enterprise for business gains are more of an aspiration than a reality.

Coupled with this, FSIs are also operating in a changing risk landscape while pressure grows to make operations more compliant, streamlined, and efficient.

To explore these challenges and possible solutions in more detail, FStech was joined by Joe Lichtenberg, director of product and industry marketing, at InterSystems.

Trading has traditionally always been an office-based activity. However, the demands of the pandemic didn't make many allowances for tradition or for company culture. Firms had to adapt their trading operations to a work from anywhere model practically overnight regardless of their circumstances.

In response, many FSIs are turning towards voice-based technology and biometrics to replicate the benefits of a real-life trading floor in today's hybrid office, and to ensure compliance and security against a complex regulatory backdrop.

To explore some of these challenges and opportunities further, FStech was joined by Tim Carmody, Chief Technology Officer, at IPC Systems.

The rapid rise in digital and online activity has opened up a new battleground in the fight against fraud for financial services providers (FSIs), who face a range of emerging fraud vectors and increasingly sophisticated scams.

And while customers moving online provides the perfect cover for criminals looking to carry out authorised push payments (APP), synthetic ID and transaction fraud, other trends, such as the rise in information from data breaches being sold on the dark web, and sophisticated website-related fraud are also on the up.

As a result, FSIs are racing to keep up with this fast-changing risk landscape as they look to protect customer data and their own systems from fraud. At the same time, customers are expecting an increasingly streamlined payments service across digital channels and mobile, creating a perfect storm of risk for FSIs looking to reduce friction while managing evolving fraud risk.

To delve further into these challenges FStech was joined by Glenn Fratangelo, Head of Strategy and Marketing, Enterprise Fraud Management at Nice Actimize.

Over the past eighteen months, the UK financial industry has been forced to react quickly to a rapidly changing fraud landscape. As the nature of fraud activity shifts, banks and other financial institutions are facing a myriad of new risks, threats, and challenges.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on people's lives, forcing the sector to deal with increasingly difficult consumer circumstances. Financial services providers have had to approach these unprecedented scenarios with a level of sensitivity and compassion. Many are looking to security strategies that streamline the authentication process, to ensure customer interactions are as stress-free and simple as possible.

To explore some of these challenges and opportunities further, FStech was joined by Ian McGuire, Security and Biometrics Specialist at Nuance.

In the on-demand economy, customers now expect to be able to engage with their service provider - be it a streaming service, online retailer, or banking provider, at the click of a button and on the channel of their choice.

As a result, financial services providers are under mounting pressure to leverage data, AI and automation to provide a personalised and seamless customer experience, whether the customer is accessing online, via an app or calling the customer service phone line.

And while FinTechs and InsurTechs enable customers to switch smoothly between online chatbots and a human advisor, more established banks are struggling to connect all of the elements of the customer journey.

To delve further into the key challenges and opportunities for FSIs in building an omnichannel customer journey. FStech was joined by Monica Hovsepian, Head of Worldwide Financial Services Industry Strategy at OpenText.

In the age of data-driven financial services, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have become the essential building blocks of digital channels such as the apps and online banking services used by millions of customers.

But as the data ecosystem evolves, and Open Banking shifts into Open Finance and Open Data, APIs are becoming far more than just gateways for data exchange between applications and systems: they are in the process of becoming drivers of real innovation and strategic value.

As a result, FSIs who are slow to adopt this approach and fail to unlock the potential for new products and services, risk losing out to more nimble, Open API-enabled competitors.

In this podcast we were joined by Alfonso Navio, business strategist for financial services at Red Hat to explore how FSIs are leveraging APIs to drive value for their customers.