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The COVID-19 pandemic has been a driving force for the financial digitalization of millions globally, resulting in an immense rise or even take-up of digital banking platform usage by financial users. This new trend has a plethora of advantages both for users and financial businesses (FBs), and our COBIS Everywhere solution was specifically designed to empower this transformation- the need for reliable, agile, and secure virtual financial products and services, anytime and anywhere.

No one would disagree that 2020 was a transformative year in terms of how we live and work. This transformation required individuals, businesses, and institutions to fully embrace technology. COVID invited new virtual requirements: remote working, challenges of pandemic living and operating business.  And financial sector was no exception. Digital transformation in finances is not a new story, financial technology has empowered financial businesses for decades now, pre-COVID there was massive investment in the cloud, mobile banking, e-payments, and many more. What 2020 showed the industry was that these investments were no longer an option, but crucial to survival.

2021 is shaping up to be an exciting year, the financial sector will need more than just digital endurance to pivot through the temporary hurdles of the pandemic and changing socioeconomic environment. Financial players will need to invest in their long-term “financial equipment and overall fitness,” what we call financial agility. With this context, let’s dig deeper into the key trends experts believe will shape the 2021 financial technology market.

The pandemic has completely transformed our way of living, including the way we bank. Digital capabilities were already visible pre-COVID, but now the need for financial institutions to digitally transform is even more imperative, and cloud investment is a great first step.

In todays’ world both organizations and individuals are dependent on constant digital access. They want access from multiple devices, from anywhere and at any time- this connectivity is made possible by the cloud. And it becomes even more intricate when it comes to the delivery of financial services, this is due to security concerns, user data sensitivity, massive storage requirements, and more. Therefore, choosing the right cloud infrastructure for your financial entity is key.

Financial accessibility has been a challenge from the beginning of the banking. But with the advent of digital finance, this challenge has created a great opportunity for all the players involved- banks, nonbanking entities, customers, and even led to the inclusion of those underbanked or unbanked. One of the most transformative solutions in the digitization of banking is digital lending.

 Digital lending transforms traditional credit products and services, and empowers both financial entities and customers with: better credit decisions; streamlined, “stickier” customer experience; and significant time and cost savings.

And now with COVID, the need for digital lending has never been more crucial.  Compulsory confinement, social distancing, and remote work has altered the everyday lives of everyone, including their finances. Although, the adoption of digital channels, electronic payments, and remote working were made popular pre-COVID, now they have become even more essential components of financial users.

The 2020 COVID pandemic has taught us organizations need agility. Now more than ever, they require the ability to adapt and pivot to unforeseen events, and the flexible work systems to execute under atypical circumstances, such as remote environments. One of the best methodologies to achieve agility in your organization is Agile Methodologies.

Many see 2020 as a year “stained” with economic hardships and social alienation. But in the financial technology sector, 2020 is just the opposite. 2020 has been an incredible year of innovation: with the acceleration of banking digitalization, and numerous new products and services to aid economic recovery and the new reality of virtual living and working.

This new context of a virtual world has redirected the digital strategy of banks and their traditional banking business models. The rise of digital banking through the web and mobile digital channels has optimized these platforms and changed the customer engagement strategy. It has also indirectly lead to more financial inclusion, now the unbanked and underbanked have even easier and cheaper access to financial tools.  

Exceptional data management is essential for all financial entities, not only in terms of security, but for the realization of day-to-day operations and management strategies. Excellence in this area alone can make or break a financial player, as well as set them up for leadership in the market.

In an August publication, TechGenyz, a technology media outlet, summarizes the importance of a clean and efficient data management system and focuses on its fundamental capabilities: integration, automation, organization, and analytics. Data management system empower both organizations and users with the best quality data, cloud accessibility, 24/7 availability, and reliable security (password-protected). Examples include the automatic repair of phone numbers written with extra spaces, and the elimination of duplicate files to prevent the sending of the same message to a customer.

There is no question that today cloud investment is indispensable- with endless benefits from costs savings, added flexibility, and organizational agility. For the cloud vests financial entities with a powerful foundation to reach their desired outcomes. Below we will dig deeper into 3 of the most popular cloud offerings: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS); to understand their unique applications, functionalities, and advantages.

Quantum computing has become hot topic in most industries, including finance. Yet, most of us have never hear of it. Quantum computing applies theories developed under quantum mechanics to solve problems. Its applications have the potential to reimagine financial solutions, as well as financial security.

Agile methodologies are essential in this era of rapid innovation, and now proven even more vital during the pandemic. These frameworks empower organizations to quickly respond to any variable, and enable high levels of productivity and outstanding business outcomes.

It is no surprise that these methods are widely used by the financial sector, for they naturally complement the acceleration of the digital transformation of financial institutions. Designed at the advent of the internet, these methodologies logically reflect the vision of their creators. At a time when programmers were searching for a responsive method to create digital applications and facilitate the quick adoption of new technologies, these new agile systems transformed their work.

Within this context, agility is defined as the fast and continuous delivery of developments, strategically dividing projects into smaller processes, aimed to maximize the result of the end product. This workflow structure enables continuous feedback and focused collaboration with each deliverable. This facilitates powerful and profound technological developments that reflect the cooperation of all individuals in the workflow process, its success is not only seen in its agility, but the resulting solution and consequent business outcomes.

While stay-at-home orders are being lifted by most governments, the new pandemic environment has forever transformed the world. Social distancing has altered human behavior and norms, and most dramatically our way of living and working. Our hyper-virtual lives have invited a new level cyber risk, especially with the surge of global fraud rates. It is, therefore, the responsibility of both financial service providers and users to build a safer digital banking environment and culture of digital risk safety.

PwC’s 2020 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey shows telling stats, with 47% of respondents reporting fraud in the last 24 months; and even more alarming, the months of January to June saw a 70% increases in attacks. PwC explains that increase in fraud has a direct correlation with times of crises and recessions, so it is no surprise we are seeing these numbers during the pandemic. What makes this more serious is that now our society has become dependent on digital ecosystems for everything, one of the most important being the access to digital banking. And unfortunately, PwC says this is one of the most targeted fraud areas.

A few months into the “new normal” of pandemic living and economic surprises, we see the continuation of innovation and strategic business schemes in the financial technology space. The cloud is not only a norm, but a vital aspect of most global businesses, pushing its advancements into new offerings such as Serverless and Multi-cloud services. Fintech companies are being watched carefully, as non-bank players come up with financial solutions that attract some and repel others. BigTech partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, and Cloud-first and regulatory-compliant-digital-banks, now add a new dimension to the financial technology market, paving the way for more challenges, but even more opportunities. Governments and the private sector continue to explore open banking, digital currencies, and other potential technologies that require regulatory reform. As they continue to observe the evolution of the financial customer profile and the growing dependancy between individuals and organizations, they realize their new need to have the capabilities to act quickly to global and national crises. Lastly, now that we are used to this “new normal,” we are once again focusing on financial inclusion, with new players tackling key gaps to not only better the poorest of the poor, but other important groups financially underserved, such as the gig economy.

Below, we will focus on key aspects of financial technology and how they are critical to how we look at the future of digital financial solutions.  

Cloud technology first captivated the market ten years ago, quickly becoming a mandatory line item and transforming the technological processes of financial institutions (FIs).

Investment in cloud technology is an essential strategy for the digital transformation of FIs. It powers financial agility in service and product delivery in a capacity never before possible- adding secure accessibility, flexible scalability, and personalized adaptability. Here we explain why investing in the cloud is critical to your business outcomes and strategic goals.