Keeping Pace With Digital Commerce: Exploring Next-Gen Tech in Financial Services

Shifting market dynamics and ever-evolving customer expectations have been the norm.

But nothing could have prepared us for what 2020 had in store.

The advent of the pandemic brought forth a profound change in the commerce space. The result? Explosive growth!

We now see a seismic change across the commerce ecosystem – from buying behaviors, spending habits to payment preferences.

According to a report by PYMNTS, 52% of customers who have shifted to digital grocery shopping swear never to go back to the brick-and-mortar store. Retailers are scrambling to play catch-up with these ‘digitally-driven shoppers’, with some of them taking their stores online for the very first time.

The financial services industry is not holding back either. FinTechs and traditional financial services organizations are leveraging advanced technologies like – VR and AI in an effort to lead the pack and offer customers the inimitable shopping experience that they are demanding.

Investing in next-gen tech: What are the technologies you should focus on?

To be at the forefront of this digital commerce wave, financial institutions and FinTechs need to adopt new technologies that simplify commerce and deliver a seamless experience to all stakeholders that are involved.

Arrangements are already being made to introduce ease and convenience in the commerce space. Claire Calmejane, the Chief Innovation Officer at Societe Generale tweets about UK’s proposed CBDC, also known as ‘Britcoin’.

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said that the proposed #CBDC – already dubbed ‘#Britcoin’ – would be a new form of digital currency issued by the Bank of England for day-to-day household usage as well as commerce by businesses via https://t.co/orwTxUHeuU @YahooFinance

— Claire Calmejane (@ccalmeja) July 29, 2021

The 5 technologies in the spotlight are:

1. Interactive tech: Augmented reality and virtual reality are being used in digital commerce to re-create an in-store experience for online shoppers.

   We see FinTech players making the move to simplify payments using virtual reality. A few years ago, Alibaba introduced an app that allowed shoppers to make payments by just nodding their heads.

   On speaking to a few of my friends in the financial services industry, they shared that though the traditional banking space has been slow to explore interactive digital experiences, things are now starting to pick up.

2. Artificial intelligence: AI-enabled personalization in E-commerce has been the rage of late. With 86% of financial executives pledging to spend more money on artificial intelligence –  the financial industry is waking up to the personalization demands of customers today.

   AI technologies including Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning will be leveraged to automate transaction flows and provide personalized assistance in digital commerce.

3. Cybersecurity: We live in a virtual world. With commerce becoming more and more digital, a renewed focus on cybersecurity is a must.

   Cybersecurity has always been a concern. With the move towards a ‘cashless society’, financial players need to power up with advanced cybersecurity technologies and strengthen existing measures on blockchain authentication, multi-factor authentication along with other security measures.

5. Cloud: It’s time to move out of outdated static systems and into the cloud. The cloud computing market is accelerating at a CAGR of 19.1% and is expected to touch $ 1,251 Billion by 2028. Moving from legacy infrastructure to cloud-based solutions is paramount to offering customers the luxury of managing money and making payments at the tap of a button.
   
   
6. Open Banking: In today’s digitally forward world, open banking technologies facilitate seamless payments in a secure environment. From reducing card fraud to enabling easy refunds, open banking has a lot to offer the digital customer. Organizations in the financial services industry have little to no choice but to speed up their innovations in this space.

Embracing technology-driven change

Customers are calling all the shots in the digital commerce space. To be able to thrive and remain competitive, organizations must work towards treating customers to superior digital experiences.

Some of the biggest opportunities that can reimagine digital commerce are:

• Contactless payment apps are replacing in-person engagements and promoting touchless experiences
• Increasing customer touchpoints call for an expansion of omnichannel experiences such as payments via QR codes. Juniper predicts that QR codes will be the most used digital commerce mechanism in the coming years
• Simplified payments are at the center of today’s buying experiences. Embedding FinTech products into existing digital banking solutions is essential to offer exceptional digital experiences
• Lastly, the digital payment solutions that are enabling accelerated migration to digital commerce are also paving the path for increased financial inclusion
  
  

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