What New Trends Will Disrupt Financial Services

Technological advancements have always been a driver of change. In a world of digital disruption fueled by the exponential growth of IT tools and technologies, financial service companies can thrive and serve their customers better only by adopting new technologies. With the rapidly evolving customers’ demands in the wake of Covid-19 Pandemic, competitive pressures, and new challenges, banks, insurance, Fintech, and Investment management companies can leverage several opportunities presented by continuous innovations in Fintech and disruptive technologies like Blockchain, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Robotic Process Automation, and Artificial intelligence.

Here is a checklist of five popular trends that have disrupted financial services and are going to shape the future of banking:

1. Hybrid Cloud
   With cloud computing having entered into the mainstream of finance companies, organizations prefer a hybrid cloud that is a combination of a private cloud with one or more public cloud services. It offers banks and other financial institutions a host of benefits like reduced cost, enhanced flexibility, improved efficiency, and data security.
2. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
   RPA is the process in which robots or virtual assistants are pre-programmed to complete labor-intensive and repetitive tasks correctly in banks and credit unions without human intervention. Be it customer onboarding, automatic report generation, KYC, mortgage lending, account opening, or loan processing, RPA can easily automate various processes and help reduce cost, enhance efficiency, simplified compliance, and scalability.
3. Artificial Intelligence
   Artificial intelligence has delivered tremendous technological gains to financial institutions. With more and more companies planning to invest substantially in AI, it would enable them to reap maximum benefits from digital disruption brought about by it. AI is used in banks and other companies through robots and chatbots employed in websites and mobile banking apps. AI benefits financial companies in multiple ways like efficient risk management, enhancing security, increasing traction, and letting other technologies like big data analytics and robotic process automation work. 
4. Blockchain Technology
   Blockchain is a decentralized database of digital transactions that are distributed across an entire network of computers on the blockchain. It takes the security of banking and financial services to a new level.  First used in Bitcoin, it is going to disrupt financial companies. With increasing cases of banking fraud and cybercrimes, more and more companies are adopting this technology for enhanced customer satisfaction, saving money, and enhanced security. 
5. Big Data Analytics
   Big data analytics provides a mine of wealth to a company and requires to be tapped fully. As financial industries produce a mind-boggling amount of data, using advanced data analytics can help businesses extract insights from data and streamline their processes, delivering more value to customers. It is going to transform banks and fintech companies making digital disruption in financial services and letting them gain huge benefits.

The list is not all-inclusive and many other technological trends like smart machines, augmented and virtual reality, API platforms, instant payment systems, and others are going to transform financial service organizations in more ways than one.