leadership view
THE NEXT
FRONTIER
IN BANKING
AND FINANCIAL
SERVICES
By Venkateshwaran Srinivasan, Head of TCS Financial Solutions,
R Vivekanand, Co-Head of TCS Financial Solutions
Try to imagine a world in which today’s technology trends and safer settlements, real-time risk monitoring, 24x7
are amplified and accelerated. It’s a world where everyone’s consumer payments, and interbank payments tracking
on the cloud, all endpoints are mobile, all businesses with SWIFT gpi.
The frontier in financial services relies upon the
make decisions using easy-to-interpret analytics, and IT
development approaches the speed of thought.
That’s the next frontier in banking and financial services.
successful deployment of one or more of the enabling
technologies of Business 4.0: cloud computing,
Even with a few bumps along the road, the frontier is automation, data analytics/AI, and Agile/DevOps. Yet
quickly coming into view, driven by the visions of an it’s not enough to deploy any of these technologies on
“always-connected” generation that has always been so. its own. The essential element for long-term success is
A few examples to bring home the changes now
underway:
l Wealth management providers now deliver mass
personalization with robo-advisors, giving the power of
a business-led strategy that anticipates and even drives
evolving customer behavior under the conditions of
widespread technological advancement and universal
adoption of mobile devices.
customized investment advice even to smaller retail investors
Our planning assumptions should consider, anticipate,
in far-flung parts of the globe. Previously, this level of advice and build towards tomorrow’s economy. What types of
was only available to institutional investors and ultra-high- businesses will succeed? How will financial services evolve
net-worth individuals. Also, by offering top-quality advice at to serve retail, business, and corporate customers? How
a disruptive price, banks are creating exponential value for will new technology change customer behavior, societal
customers. Exponential value in this context means that the trends, and regulatory practices that often play catch up?
benefits of the product continue to increase without limit Will there be other types of institutions who will deliver
even as the price approaches a minimum. financial services? By pondering these questions together,
l Financial institutions are leveraging ecosystems with
we can establish more effective strategies.
flexible messaging standards like ISO 20022, open banking As we make near-term business decisions, we can also
standards such as IFX and BIAN, and high-speed networks make strides toward the anticipated future by advancing
that make data available anywhere instantly. our capabilities with respect to the key technologies of
l Banks are embracing risk by taking advantage
Business 4.0.
of market infrastructure improvements such as faster
Cloud computing facilitates worldwide on-demand
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