Last month over 2000 attendees came together to listen to leading speakers from around the globe at London Fintech Week 2019. This year’s Key Note Speaker, Lord Anthony St John, referred to London as the future of finance, and Fintech. For those of you who missed out on the event we have provided a review, London Fintech Week 2019 in retrospect. We have focused on what we see as the two most significant areas discussed in terms of business development, and included predictions for the coming year.
Technology Rules
While the future of finance is not all about technological advancement, it obviously played a significant part in the conference. Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were both hot topics. They have in recent times significantly advanced customer and service management across the financial sector and business world. In fact, in many cases AI is not only the virtual bank teller, it is the bank manager, the customer service manager and the company security guard.
As organisations seek to increase services while decreasing costs, technology offers assistance at every turn. Chatbots are becoming more sophisticated, providing truly useful solutions to many customer enquiries. Their impact on service level and efficiency cannot be understated. Chatbots are being utilised to improve customer experience, which is dramatically improving the efficiency of marketing.
It is proposed that Chatbots will be further developed to deliver a more human-like experience and incorporate sophisticated voice recognition. This latter point is key given the increase in preference for voice transactions such as voice search. ComScore, a media measurement and analytics company, predict that by the year 2020, 50% of all online searches will be performed with voice search.
Mobile technology has also taken giant steps, providing customers with a full suite of services at their fingertips such as account management and mobile payments. In fact, mobile solutions are often superior to desktop applications as the facilities they offer have to be more innovative given the constraints of use.
These aspects of technology can be capitalised upon by any organisation, with appropriate planning and guidance, to improve the customer experience and streamline key processes such as marketing and service delivery.
Blockchain Technology
Blockchain once again played a major part in this years’ Fintech conference and this is no surprise given its significance and potential for business. However, its benefits are also not only restricted to the financial sector.
Put very simply Blockchain is data stored electronically in an innovative way. The benefits of the technology are that it is decentralised, immutable, secure and transparent. Examples of Blockchain in business include smart contracts, cloud storage, supply-chain communications and paying employees.
The internet is full of attempts at explanations of this technology that is spreading through the business world with the success of a virus however one thing is clear, we do not fully comprehend its full application at this time. We will cover Blockchain in a separate blog post in the coming months.
The Final Word
That concludes our review, London Fintech Week 2019 in retrospect. Given the number, and complexities of topics discussed, it is difficult to summarise an entire conference in a single blog post. However, we hope that we have taken the best of the event, in terms of its current and future applications, for the benefit of you and your customers.
Technological advancements such as Chatbots and mobile applications have the potential to significantly impact on your customer experience, and as such their loyalty, and the efficiency of your processes. With regard Blockchain, watch this space!