It’s not a bold remark to say that technology is changing the face of banking. Everything from internal logistics to customer relations, technology is having a series of major impacts on the way money is made, stored, and exchanged. Financial hardships are a great struggle for many in the world today, and people are increasingly looking to alternative forms of help that new websites, devices, and software providers.
But how and why is this being achieved? Is it all worth it in the end, or are there any flaws in this tech takeover in the banking world?
Consequently, here’s how 2019 technology is changing banking.
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Cybersecurity
It’s irrational to presume that banks are generous, selfless services. Instead, the reality of the situation is that they’re more like a business; they employ people, have sensitive customer data, and invest in people they believe will give them a reasonable return from things like loans. Over time, technology has slowly been shaped around banking to reflect and compliment all of this.
For example, cloud services and storage have become commonplace just about everywhere today. Consequently, banks will need cybersecurity in order to make sure all the important information they have is kept safe, private, and easily tracked by them. After all, it was only at the end of last year that The Bank of England was testing the UK’s ability to withstand major cyber attacks, so the latest technological safeguards and protective measures are constantly being implemented.
Mobile Payments
People are shopping and banking online more than ever, particularly through the use of their smartphones. The digital world is now the setting for many people’s money management strategies, as it’s all more conveniently accessed than queuing up in individual high street branches. Today, everything is becoming increasingly accessed through an app on a smartphone.
Banks are accommodating these consumer habits by developing their own specialized apps in response. Now customers are swiping right to set up direct debits and make transfers, finding all the same features as they would on their website had it been accessed by a computer. In the end, that sense of ease and efficiency is something that the banks are constantly striving to capture today through technology.
Targeted Demographics
Banks used to be an open area whereby customers of all kinds would go along and get down to business with their money. However, with the arrival of things like AI and SEO, the banking experience has become much more refined. Millennials now receive ads offering financial education and saving tips, and older generations receive guidelines around pension funds, etc. Every website visitor is met with a popup chatbox, there to receive inquiries.
In other words, banks are trying to personalize their services and reach out to customers directly through technology. Where customers used to make the first move when engaging with a branch’s services, it’s now the banks themselves that are sparking these exchanges. Still, customers can also take control online and opt in and out of certain schemes or product offers, adjust paperless settings, manage notifications, and alerts. It’s all strengthening the bond between bank and customer.
