Technology

Some regulators have initiated innovative payment solutions, while others lag behind. The traditional view that sustainability can be left to market forces is faltering, as our developing payment landscape leaves millions behind, raising concerns about the impacts of cashless societies. The remedy: an efficient, inclusive payment model.

Banking and baking have much in common: They both require the right ingredients combined perfectly to achieve success. In their quest to realize the full potential of automation technology to manage data, banks face a vast selection of ingredients. What specific innovations should they employ when creating integrated platforms that work?

Banking has never been as complex as it is today, but the fundamentals remain the same: hedging against risk while seeking gain through investment. Employed effectively, artificial intelligence is a powerful, adaptive partner that advises investment professionals on the most strategic routes to profitability and competitive advantage.

The past year highlighted the growing importance of digital customer experiences in the financial services industry as COVID-19 continued to accelerate the pace of digitization. Unable to connect in person, consumers turned to digital tools. One survey conducted between late March and early May 2020 reported that between 46% and 51% of adults in the United States increased social media use since the start of the pandemic.

If further evidence was needed, the successful £322m fundraising by UK’s Starling Bank is a clear signal that digital-first newcomers will continue to force change in the banking industry, impacting long-established banking brands. To find their way back to the surface of this maelstrom of change, a step-change in traditional banks’ revamping of legacy technologies must be a priority.

Ever since Open Banking first launched in the UK nearly three years ago, the promise of sharing data to achieve more efficient, personalised banking services has been made a reality. Spurred on by increased customer centricity, banks have acted on the PSD2 mandate to deliver smarter, aggregated services to their respective customer base. 

With useful data and information piling up in the financial realm, firms can use all the help they can get to more efficiently compile and employ it. Automation, which manifests itself in many forms, is a must for financial institutions. Natural language processing translates words into useful tools and applications that enable financial companies to be more compliant, profitable and sustainable and is experiencing increasing adoption in the financial industry.

Few of us don’t enjoy a good game, and the more competitive, the better, which is why numerous firms are enlisting the gamification strategy to draw users in. But is the practice always justified, let alone ethical, especially in activities such as trading through which finances can be compromised? The controversial method has pros and cons, but it is sure to be more readily adopted as consumers increasingly embrace it.

Silicon Valley, London and Beijing come to mind in response to the phrase tech hub, but around the world, promising and trailblazing tech hubs are springing up in a number of locales, especially in Asia and Africa. This article examines three emerging, highly competitive tech hotspots—Singapore, Bengaluru and Kenya—that are drawing start-ups and talent and giving the leading tech mega-centres a run for the money, including venture-capital investment.

Like artists, brilliant innovations are not always appreciated immediately. Such is the case of the QR Code, invented in Japan in the early 1990s to boost manufacturing and retail efficiency. In the socially distanced COVID-19 environment, this invention is proving indispensable in a variety of transactions and activities, from making payments to reading menus. Partnering with smartphones, the QR Code is proving itself a boon to both commerce and health.