Technology Trends in Financial Services: 2021 Edition

Recent technology trends in financial services have changed the way we interact with money – making communicating, purchasing, and banking easier than ever. In 2021, there is no doubt about it – tech developments have led to a world of finance with less human error and more effective processes.

Here are five of the latest technology trends in financial services.

1. Blockchain

Blockchain will continue to disrupt the financial services sector by providing security via multi-point verification, fraud reduction, payment and loan processing, smart contracts, and more. Blockchain is the technology behind popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin. As investment in cryptocurrencies continues its precipitous rise, blockchain will continue trending.

2. Chatbot and Artificial Intelligence

From large-scale banks to small credit unions, chatbots and artificial intelligence are among the most popular technology trends in financial services. Chatbots have become more visible in large part because they provide 24/7 problem solving and solutions.

Marketing, risk management, fraud detection, product delivery, budget analysis, and other business operations have benefited greatly from artificial intelligence. Both of these technologies have seen increased adoption, use-cases, and improvements within financial services.

3. Automation

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – or software robotics to automate processes – has become an important technology trend in finance. Most RPA focuses on the automation of tasks like answering common questions, payment approvals, maintenance of logs, and other repetitive duties.

Automating simple tasks frees up business users to focus on more complex ones, and RPAs have been shown to streamline operations, reduce costs, minimize errors, and save human labor. These benefits have also been applied to customer service by speeding up question response and increasing access to help. Indeed, many businesses using RPAs have reported improvements in customer experience.

4. Big Data

Big data in financial services usually comes in the form of customer behavior data (e.g., spending, investing, transferring data), and by combining data points across financial sub-industries. Big data has led to more personalized banking experiences, mitigation of fraud risk and more informed decision making. Other common uses of big data include customer insight, segmentation, and predictive analysis.

5. Increasing security

With the ever-exploding numbers of data breach events – and the age-old importance of securing customer data -novel cyber security measures are being adopted by financial services. Some security technology trends in financial services include biometric security systems, OAuth2.0 and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). People are understandably worried about the security of their data, and the financial service sector is well aware of the importance of cyber security.

Technology Trends in Financial Services: 2021 Edition

In the midst of constant technological improvement (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and RPAs) the financial service sector will continue providing more personalized, safe, and easily accessible services.