Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

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The Future of Cloud: Powering the Financial Services Industry

Strategic Insights and Best Practices for Success in the Cloud. The pace of change in the financial services industry is unprecedented. Regulatory oversight continues to expand with more stringent reporting and security requirements, emerging technologies are disrupting consumer expectations and the ecosystem is constantly evolving as new players enter the market. As a result, financial institutions are redefining their business models to deliver the capacity, agility and technology design they need to attract talent, be competitive and drive growth. From banking and payments to capital markets and insurance, cloud has become the new normal. In this paper, financial institutions, technology providers and consultants share their strategic insights and best practices for success in the cloud. From building a solid foundation to exploring the cutting edge, they discuss industry trends and specific use cases for stages throughout the cloud adoption journey.

19 February 2020 1001 downloads

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Avoiding Improvisation: A 3-Step Guide to Harmonising Electronic Identity Verification

Challenges to due diligence compliance come in multiple forms - biometric, document validation, electronic identity verification - making this a vast and varied area of concern for financial institutions. Research by Fenergo states that fines levied on financial services firms for KYC, AML and sanctions-related breaches since the financial crisis total nearly $26 billion. However, due diligence is inherently complicated for global companies required to meet the regulations of multiple countries and regions. The chief compliance officer of a global organisation has an incredibly complex job. This role could be compared to that of an orchestra conductor ensuring that all areas of the business are following the sheet music of regulation properly and that everyone is keeping time and playing their part. This is a point study of the key considerations companies should make in their due diligence requirements in electronic identity verification (eIDV). Download your copy of the imapct study below to find out more.

08 January 2020 315 downloads

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The Critical Role of Cloud in Digital and Operational Strategy

The operational challenges facing financial services firms are only increasing - from regulatory requirements to new entrants and now open banking and digital transformation - all at a time when competition has never been stronger. Fortunately, cloud computing services are constantly improving and maturing. Now banks can get more than cost-savings from their use of the cloud. It can improve cost management, enhance data security and data management, reduce operational risk, and enable banks to migrate to a more decentralised, digital and collaborative operating model. However, there are issues that banks, both new and old, must consider to optimise their use of the cloud, such as cultural challenges, skills shortages and operational obstacles. One way to overcome these challenges and ensure the most effective use of cloud technology is for banks to work with a growing number of expert organisations to support and manage their cloud migrations and digital transformations.

27 December 2019 929 downloads

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How to Protect and Grow in the Fintech Industry

A 3-Step Guide to Generating Revenue and Becoming Profitable. A monetisation strategy must be devised so that the company can decide what value will be created and who will pay, whether it is the customer, thirdparties that want access to the consumer or third-party beneficiaries who can derive value from the user. There is no universal formula for success that can work across all business models. The most common way of generating revenue is charging consumers. This would work well in a startup model as these organisations are unencumbered by legacy infrastructure and cost structures, so new financial services entrants can charge fees that are lower than what customers are accustomed to paying, while at the same time, continuing to create better user experiences. However, untrusting customers want more than a better customer experience and companies need to establish revenue sources that can be diversified over time. Additionally, financial services providers must give their customers a reason to bank with them and this can be done by ensuring defences are built against financial crime, providing analytically driven decisions and streamlining the lending process. With this in mind, there are three important steps to be taken to proceed towards long term profitability.

09 December 2019 425 downloads

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Fraud Detection: Embracing New Technologies for Frictionless Payments

Payments fraud is a significant challenge for banks and is set to become more problematic as payment channels and payment services providers (PSPs) proliferate, regulation reshapes the way payments are transacted and the world migrates away from cash towards electronic, often real-time, payments. In Europe, the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) allows third party developers to directly interact with a partner banks’ customers, raising questions about the use of customer data by the third parties and extension of the security boundaries. This trend towards open banking is being adopted elsewhere in the world, including in Australia, the US and Hong Kong. In the increasingly networked ecosystem of payments, identifying fraudsters will be a challenge, but under PSD2, financial institutions are required to monitor all transactions for fraud-related activities. The traditional, silo-based approach to fraud detection is fast becoming obsolete. For too long, banks have lagged in their ability to align fraud detection with the speed of transactions as payments move away from cash towards CNP (Card Not Present) transactions. The financial industry is shifting towards real-time data analysis, deploying artificial intelligence, machine learning and Cloud capability to transition towards a digital ecosystem. Banks must ensure they stay ahead of the increasing technological threat from criminals and fraudsters.

30 November 2018 841 downloads

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AI - The Road to Transformation

The challenge for global financial institutions is how to navigate the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution in a successful manner. It requires a full evaluation of operational models, approach to the customer, ability to combine technological acumen with real business needs, and much more besides. At Finextra’s annual NextGen Banking London conference, speakers and panellists discussed how robotics can be deployed to automate processes and increase operational efficiency, and how advanced analytics can enable a better understanding of the customer allowing banks to improve their offering, remain competitive and also reduce fraud. Ultimately, AI is a tool with which to augment the workforce, and a cultural shift is also required in order to fully leverage the benefits to be gleaned from AI. Download this new paper produced by Finextra to find out more.

22 October 2018 132 downloads

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The AI Revolution: Time to Get Ready

Artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies are fast making inroads into the financial services industry. Operating in an interconnected, digital world in which money moves instantly, and faced with increasingly stringent regulations, financial institutions are turning to AI to help transform their operations. According to Forbes, organisations invest in AI developments to meet one of three objectives: Build systems that think exactly as humans do; Get systems to work without figuring out how human reasoning works; or Use human reasoning as a model but not necessarily the end goal. Download this new paper by Finextra in association with Intel to find out more on these three objectives and how AI will help financial institutions participate fully in the digital revolution.

31 July 2018 207 downloads