“To master a new technology, you have to play with it”. — Jordan Peterson
Over the last few years, many technologies have been invented to help us deal with different aspects. Finance has always been an important subject. Financial institutions like banks make huge profits and turnovers. The reality is that money is never going anywhere. You will always need money however smart technology gets. There are creative and innovative ideas that researchers are working on to make the world of finance brighter.
Technology is changing the way we operate and people have started to expect a lot more from their banks. There are key areas that absorb technology into financial activities to help their users.
Customer Services
Possibly the biggest way that Fintech has changed the way for finance and banking sector is through customer services. Formerly, a good customer team was essentially required for any finance company. Anything as crucial as the handling of money required a team of experts to provide assistance to its customers. However, now chat boxes have become a popular way of interacting with the people. Machines can handle anything more accurately than the human brain. Why should finance companies pay a staff member when a machine will work more with less or almost no scope of errors?
Online Banking
Going to a bank branch to withdraw money seems like such an old tradition now. In the past people would go to a bank, probably talk to a helpful employee, wait for their turn and then take their money. Online banking is such a great innovation where people are no longer required to go to a branch. Everything right from crediting or debiting or in fact opening a new account can be done online now. Online banking is getting more advanced with time. With just an application now, you can pay for goods. With sites such as finance.co.uk, you can even switch between banks and choose products according to your needs. We live in the age where we can access our bank accounts through our phones and computers which disrupt the banking sector.
Fraud Detection
The research and investigation for any fraud going on was a challenge both for man and machine. The machine would detect any doubtful transactions but it was up to the staff to track down the criminal. However, Artificial Intelligence is becoming much smarter than the people actually developing it. With the help of AI, you can track down the history of the victim, and then calculate the fraud based on former records. All the tracking processes can be done at a much higher rate than any human could ever do.
Foreign banking services
With the help of technology, it has become much easier for people who work abroad to send money to their families.
Rural Banking
Today technology has taken a new leap. Earlier banks were centralized in urban areas; today technology has made it possible to set up banking facilities in rural areas as well. For example, in Africa, mobile banking facilities have been introduced. Through this technology, a person in a rural area will have a bank account with a mobile company which is free. People can then deposit money in that account through a nearby operating mobile center. This money can then be withdrawn anytime anywhere in that particular area and money can also be sent and received through the same system.
Plastic Money
With the introduction of smart cards or credit cards, life has become much easier. Now people can borrow some amount of money from the bank to buy a thing and the bank bills them later. With debit and credit cards people can pay money without actually depositing cash out of their accounts. The same cards can be used to debit money through an ATM without going through the trouble of going to bank branches.
Self-inquiry facility
Instead of going through the trouble of standing in long queues, technology has helped banks to provide self-inquiry to its customers. The entire account information is present on the bank’s app.
With all these services and much more, the financial industry is totally ruled by technology. What the future may look like is always uncertain, but fintech is here to stay. With so many innovations already in use, adoption of newer technologies will not be far behind.
“Technology feeds on itself. Technology makes more technology possible.” — Alvin Toffler
