Fintech News Issue #153 Wednesday, January 31st 2018 03:01PM

2018 promises to be the year we see the culmination of some key technologies — from blockchain and intelligent AI, to design thinking and the cloud. Here are the six biggest trends identified by Synechron in their annual forecast.

Financial services marketing historically has been about pushing and about targeting, but the idea of always-on offers can perpetually drive engagement and eventual purchase of additional services

Many banking and finance companies have already taken advantage of big data analytics to simplify the process of personalized offers, targeted cross sales and to improve their customer service. The term big data keeps expanding and today incorporates numerous new meanings, such as Deep Learning, Cluster Analysis, Neuron Networks and Artificial Intelligence.

Technological advancement and digitisation in particular have had a huge effect on financial services. In the last few years, this has spilled over into dealmaking, with tech's rise being one of the driving factors behind the growing number of PE and M&A deals in 2017.

Nothing has impacted today's consumer more than the power of the smartphone and digital technologies. The full impact of digital technologies has yet to be fully realized. Those banks and credit unions that continue to have a passion for yesterday's banking models will soon see negative impacts on growth and revenue.

For many years, people used to believe that the Earth consisted of an amalgam of four elements – earth, fire, water and air. It took until nearly 1750 for scientists to realize that fire isn't an element, but the result of a process.

There has been much discussion about the impact of Open Banking on compliance with data protection law, including the GDPR, which will come into force on 25 May 2018. It is very important for those considering deploying Open Banking products and services to be aware of their responsibilities and obligations in this regard.

Some of the largest projects underway include the IBM-backed Hyperledger Fabric project, the Utility Settlement Coin, and R3’s blockchain consortium, signifying a growing acceptance in institutional policy to support blockchain growth

Fintech startups have better technology and ideas than banks, but they're also out to prove they're more transparent than the average bank in their products and their messaging

While it is generally true that digital wealth advice platforms offer investment management services at a lower cost than traditional advisor-based services, it would be false to jump to the conclusion that these lower fees are the most important factor in driving consumer loyalty.

Most banks and credit unions don't usually take 'the human factor' into consideration when developing their products and services. But several financial institutions are starting to do just that, using proven business management strategies to foster greater creativity and innovation. It's called 'design thinking'.

How FinTech And RegTech Are Transforming The Financial Industry

IBM Security has released a global study examining consumer perspectives around digital identity and authentication – IBM Security: Future of Identity Study – which surveyed nearly 4,000 adults from across the US, Asia Pacific and Europe.

Under the decidedly grim moniker "creating a shared future in a fractured world," the world’s elite gathered in Davos, Switzerland for the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum.

The Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) comes into force imminently and it means banks will, with customer consent, be forced to share customer account data with other providers.

According to Thomson Reuters their regulatory intelligence service captured 52,506 regulatory alerts from over 750 regulatory bodies across the globe in 2016. That’s more than 200 updates a day.

Artificial Intelligence is real and it is here. But successfully putting AI into action isn't exactly a walk in the park -- it requires a fundamental rethinking of the business.

When the code is cracked, insurers must be ready to pivot. I’ve certainly written about blockchain before. In fact, two years ago I likened it to the beginnings of the once-revolutionary concept of the Word Wide Web and how even that had its detractors.

AI has disrupted the retail industry, and that’s a good thing. Consumer behavior is increasingly managed by AI, leading to an unparalleled online shopping experience.