Technology

Most people are now accustomed to shopping over the internet, with 2021 seeing an increase of 14.3% in online sales compared to the year previous. However, this brings its own set of challenges. Most notably, cyber risk. More online purchases means more sharing of online credentials, and greater risk of fraudulent activity.

2021 will be remembered as the year supply chains failed to deliver the goods on time. These disruptions have been costly for businesses, emphasizing the importance of responding in real-time. Financial managers equipped with real-time treasury can immediately confront a crisis, no matter what it entails, cutting costs and building trust.

Traditional banks in Africa continue to struggle to reach the underbanked across the continent. The African payments landscape has been shaped by poor access to traditional banking services and high levels of mobile-money penetration, resulting in low usage of card solutions. New digital innovations may be the key to bridging the gap.

The digital twin, a digital replica of the real thing, is a versatile tool for financial decision-makers on the never-ending hunt for new technologies that will improve the customer experience. From reducing costs and designing bank branches to tightening cybersecurity, the dynamic digital twin is a win for bank strategists and planners.

As every tech firm knows, data is its most valuable asset – but worthless unless used efficiently and continually learned from. Fintechs must grapple with so many disparate seams of data in order to function smoothly and it’s not easy. Raw data is ugly, it’s complicated and it’s scattered across many file sources, languages and formats. What’s more, big data is getting bigger and more complicated every day.

Data is the new oil, and there’s no shortage of it. Rendering it useful while respecting privacy rights is the main challenge. That’s where synthetic data, created via artificial intelligence and machine learning to simulate real-world data, comes in. It is proving invaluable to financial firms seeking to optimize the vast power of data.

Deciphering coding is a stumbling block for businesses striving to stay relevant and maximize technologies. Fortunately, low-code and no-code solutions make the process of creating websites or applications easier and cheaper. How can banks cut through tedious coding and achieve optimal results with help from low-code/no-code platforms?

Facial-recognition technology has proved itself a useful tool, especially for identifying perpetrators of crime, but it raises serious ethical issues when used in public places. Regulators and privacy watchdogs are butting heads over the matter, and banks are playing a part in the solution while exploiting the tech in customer delivery.

Millions of people, especially in developing countries, depend on regular remittances for their livelihood, making the mechanism of sending money from rich to poor a bustling activity within the global financial sector. The process has been cumbersome, but ground-breaking technologies are improving speed, affordability and efficiency.

Blockchain has become the highway to the future in industries such as financial services, but all its speed bumps have not been flattened yet. Interoperability, whereby separate blockchain platforms interact so that data transfer can proceed smoothly from one to the other, is necessary for the technology’s continued acceptance and growth.