If you are an online shopper, a banker, or even a regular bank customer, you must have heard the word “digital banking”. Seemingly, every people have a different take on digital banking. There is much more to digital banking than just a few features that are visible to us. Digital banking is responsible for the conversion of the brick and mortar banks into more green and efficient places for operation. When it comes to banking, there are plenty of options that people can opt for. Now it is very convenient for people to pay their bills online, transfer money to other accounts, and many more.
Evolution of Digital Banking
Revolution of the banking sector was introduced in the early 90’s. The banks started to think about several ideas to lower down their operating costs and provided online banking services. Their efforts proved to be beneficial, and so the banks decided to create their own space by designing a website. The website opened a way for various features such as opening new accounts online, applying for online loans and downloading the necessary forms. Under digital banking, there were various new features added, such as bill payments, income tax filing, opening recurring accounts, transfer of funds, fixed deposit, etc.
With the rise of technology, people prefer to do everything online. The below-mentioned advantages of Digital banking highlight the importance of this technology.
- Banking is now much easier
The luxury of banking anytime and anywhere is now easily achieved with the online banking feature. With the help of this mode of banking, you can keep a check on your bank account at any time. You can easily make some payments, change your contact details or your mailing address just by clicking on few pages.
- Advanced Banking options
As there is a lot of competition in the banking sector nowadays, so the banks are coming up with the advanced websites that have several banking options to have edge over other banks to be successful. Some of these features are financial planning tools, premium calculators, loan calculators, forecasting, budgeting, etc. This results in the efficient financial planning without the need of personally visiting a bank.
- Mobile Banking options
Smartphones help the banks in providing several advanced apps that help in online banking. This leads to online banking from anywhere and at any time. Various features and mobile-friendly websites help the customers to bank efficiently. Online banking is an eco-friendly option, and thus it saves a lot of paper, and other areas like office space.
Rise in productivity in business
Now, businesses need not rely on the bank operation timings, and this is done with the help of digital banking. Even in odd hours, the payments can be made and received. In the digital banking platform, few processes such as making regular payments and paying bills can be automated. As a result, productivity is increased and a lot of time is saved.
Easily transfer of payments
These days, one of the most important thing in business is time, which they want to use on something that is giving them more value. The businesses can easily transfer the payments into their employee bank accounts with the help of digital banking. The regular transfers can be automated, and thus the professionals are able to use their time on something that is more valuable.
The wide revolution in banking world has benefited everyone. Whether there are employees working in a small office or businessman running a million-dollar business, online banking has successfully proved to be valuable in their success. Because of the huge benefits, it is not possible to think of a world without digital banking. Digital banking is a face of advanced technology, and so it is important to embrace it in personal and business banking areas.
In September 2021, Australia-based FinTech platform, Airwallex, raised US$200 million in its Series E funding round at a valuation of US$4 billion.
The company, primarily involved in business banking services, raised the fund from Lone Pine Capital, G Squared, Vetamer Capital Management, 1835i Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital.
According to the company, the fund will be used for global expansion, product development, and strengthening its team in the sales and commercial divisions.The funding round brings the total capital raised by the firm to US$700 million, which also includes a US$100 million Series D funding raised in March 2021.The firm attributes the quick succession of funding and rising valuation to the vertically integrated strategy followed by Airwallex.
Notably, the vertically integrated strategy as described by the company consists of two parts.
First, the firm has built all the infrastructure needed for the business banking services, which it provides directly to the SME businesses.
Second, the firm has packaged up the infrastructure into a set of APIs used by different companies to offer financial services to their customers without actually having to build those services themselves.In September 2021, the firm also secured a money services business (MSB) license from Bank Negara Malaysia.
60 percent of potential revenue is lost due to excessive customer onboarding time; also, as per the reports by Bain & Company, “Major banks have lost around $200 billion in fines between 2009 to 2017 due to anti-laundering cases”.
The company needs stringent laws and evolving regulations to act on anti-laundering cases, but at the same time, this will also make the customer onboarding process complex.
Other challenges that customers are facing due to the complex onboarding process are:Prolonged documentation request Lack of guidance and transparency in the onboarding processError-prone manual and paper-based processLack of omnichannel presence for customer engagement Financial institutions are moving towards new cutting-edge technologies to overcome these challenges where Open Banking becomes the game-changer for the present API-based economy.
Open banking is similar to “killing two birds with one stone” as it simultaneously looks after the threat from fraud cases and enhances the customer experience.
It can incessantly help in the following ways:Quickly verify your customer’s identityWith third party API, fintech or other service providers can create a connection between the application and the customer’s bank account details which will help retrieve financial information.
Thus, with a single open banking API, service providers can accelerate the onboarding process through quick verification and risk identification.Know customers accuratelyIn an evolving environment where customers are looking for an enhanced experience and omnichannel presence, open banking API makes it possible for service providers to know their customers affordably.
Advancing technology has started influencing the BFSI sector, and we witness innovative app solutions in financial services.
These solutions fall under the fintech category and contribute to improving services.
Mobile wallets, banking apps, and cryptocurrency-related apps are some of the most popular examples of fintech apps.
In this blog, we are going to understand the role and benefits of cross-platform app development for a fintech firm
Bloom is releasing free credit monitoring, robust data breach monitoring, and enhanced smart identity features to nearly 1 million users.With Bloom, new credit monitoring and smart identity features give users the power to protect their identity and manage their credit all in one place.
Bloom has partnered with TransUnion to provide a robust credit monitoring product.
A critical part of TransUnion’s mission is to empower consumers to better understand and manage their data and shape their financial lives.
This partnership supports that mission, and we look forward to continue working with Bloom to deliver innovative and impactful solutions to consumers.”Along with credit and data breach monitoring, Bloom’s smart identity solution helps prevent predatory third parties from accessing user data and greatly reduces the risk of identity theft.
Today’s release helps make that a reality,” said Bloom spokesperson, Shannon Wu.Bloom is building groundbreaking technology and workflows for the everyday person, providing an innovative alternative to conventional identity platforms.
By delivering a secure and inclusive alternative, Bloom has grown to become the largest decentralized identity platform in the world.Despite the hype of blockchain, many of the innovations require deep technical understanding and interfacing directly with blockchain ledgers.
Rise in adoption of new applications and services in the banking sector, supportive government regulations, and enhanced customer engagement with open banking APIs drive the growth of the global open banking market.
However, lack of awareness regarding open banking, data security, and management of security threats hinder the market growth.
On the other hand, collaboration activities between fintech firms and banks create new opportunities in the industry.The global open banking market generated $7.29 billion in 2018, and is expected to reach $43.15 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 24.4% from 2019 to 2026.
The report provides an extensive analysis of changing market dynamics, market size & projections, top investment pockets, major segments, and competitive scenarios.Based on financial service, the banking and capital markets segment contributed to more than half of the total share of the global open banking market in 2018, and is expected to maintain its lead share in terms of revenue during the forecast period.
However, the payments segment is projected to witness the largest CAGR of 27.3% from 2019 to 2026.
The research also discusses segments such as digital currencies and value-added services.
The financial technology (fintech) revolution is quickly spreading worldwide, altering the global financial dynamics.
The spectacular growth in the usage of smartphones has only catalyzed the adoption of digital tools for fintech platform solutions.
Here are 5 ways in which fintech is transforming the banking and financial services landscape- Enhanced customer experience powered by omnichannel presence: Fintech platforms enable banks with powerful banking capabilities for better customer engagement across different channels and deliver a hyper-personalized experience, enhance customer value, and seamlessly transition to the digital age.
Digital handshake with cloud AI: Banks are offering a unique customer experience centered on personalization, speed, relevance, and seamless delivery, such as AI-enabled Chatbots to manage customer queries faster and save time.
With RPA being applied, the KYC process is made much faster, and customer data can be analyzed and verified within moments with very little room for inaccuracies.
Digital currencies using Blockchain technology: Customers have benefited from cryptocurrencies for moving money, lowering expenses, and saving time since blockchain provides a reliable trading platform with improved transparency.
