This topic contains
2020 increased the demand for online platforms for banking. This changed the structure of the financial sector in certain ways. 2021 is crucial, as it is looked upon as the year when sectors will catch up with the pace and grow back again. As digital solutions are making people’s lives easier, the expectation increases a lot from the banking industry in the coming year. So, keeping these factors in mind let’s have a quick glimpse of the trends in the banking industry in 2021.
1. Expectations from online banking among the customers will rise
It is popular to see millennials interact via digital channels with their banks. However, in the new standard, this presumption goes beyond a particular era. Today, individuals of all age groups prefer digital media for their requirements, including mobile applications, online portals, and self-service platforms. Even if it is about critical transactions, people find it reluctant to visit their bank. Instead, they find alternatives that allow them to have minimum communication.
2. Security of data is an issue of prime importance
The increasing popularity of remote operations means an increased sharing of vital and sensitive information between banks and customers on the cloud, in particular financial data. This exchange usually takes place via the backend system of a bank or via third-party players. Cybersecurity and access management will play a major role in the sharing of secure and verified customer and financial information either way. Blockchain technology is emerging as a critical information security enabler and can be leveraged at multiple touchpoints to verify customer data.
3. More context through AI
As businesses continue to offer priority to speed and customer service, the key to streamlining customer experiences and providing context will be artificial intelligence (AI). Whether filling out long forms or reaching out to the support services of a bank, at the click of a button, AI can fetch data from multiple sources and forward the necessary information. To provide product recommendations and provide customized experiences, it can analyze the profile, web data, and past interactions of a customer. Also, low-ticket products and customer requests can be managed by AI-based chatbots for a quicker response time.
4. Revamping the banking experience with Voice-based technology
There is a lot of scope for combining voice-based technology and voice-activated technologies with banking processes to provide a convenient banking experience with a futuristic edge. Voice recognition is a modern, remote, and secure form of biometric authentication that enables customers to perform banking transactions safely and easily. Banks may use this technology to provide their customers with a variety of voice-activated services, including checking their account balance and transaction history, placing new orders, and connecting with a digital banking assistant.
5. Opening of microservices and API for occupying the center stage
Skillfulness and convergence are more than just buzzwords, providing a solid base for the creation of a fully digital bank. Open APIs enable interoperability between different media, helping to communicate with third-party vendors and data aggregators in the core framework of a bank. A microservices-based architecture, which breaks down banking applications into a smaller collection of services that can interact via open APIs with each other, can further support this. This form of architecture is resilient, efficient, and stable, meaning that it does not interrupt the entire system even if a single process fails.
Conclusion
The busy schedule of people and the need for finding an easy solution to every banking issue has made the emergent need for fintech. 2020 made the world learn to adapt to different situations. It made almost every sector go online. The banks have been forced to digitalize to conserve their customers. 2021 will revolutionize the banking industry and will focus on automation. Banking tasks will be more agile and the need of accessing data anytime anywhere will expand. This time can be utilized constructively to be future-ready.