FinTech News Issue #110 March 23rd, 2017

One of our core beliefs is that digital banking is only 1% finished. What does that mean?

[Video] Lufax Chairman and CEO Gregory Gibb discusses his outlook for Fintech, the impact of protectionism and talks about Chinese defaults. He speaks on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)

The Financial industry is not new to innovations. As human civilizations became more and more sophisticated, there was a need to create new financial products to serve the requirements of these complex societies. Technology in the financial sector is also not new and is around for a few decades now.

Gartner defines Open Banking as the provision of services in the context of users through API platforms; app stores and apps. In simpler words, it means utilisation of open source technology which can allow third party developers to build applications and services so as to enable end customers with more control over their finances.

Whenever we talk about innovation, it’s not, then, a question of perfecting habitual modes of thought and action but about harnessing inspiration and thinking laterally. I trust our varied programme today will serve to stimulate the latter.

Blockchain can be confidently called one of the most revolutionizing technologies for the past few decades. The great number of companies and the whole markets have already appreciated the benefits Blockchain brings to business.

If banking is like any other industry, fragmentation and disintermediation will change everything — from how financial marketers see consumers to how they create new products and deliver their services. If traditional banking providers sit on their thumbs and do nothing, they will see their existing customer base splinter and head off for big banks and innovative fintechs.

In 2015, a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. study found that one in five citizens were “underbanked.” In other words, the affected households had a bank account but they also needed to obtain a financial service or product outside of the banking system.

AS FAR BACK as the 1880s, people stood on the curb outside the New York Stock Exchange taking bets on political elections, and newspapers would report the odds as a way of predicting the results at the polls.

The Amazon Echo smart assistant deployed by Visions is using customer interaction to empower the credit union’s product research.

Though Trump has promised to lighten regulatory burdens across the economy, people in fintech will nonetheless face a contrary trend.

This time has come: VC investments into fintech industry have not grown globally and the market has almost reached its saturation point in 2016.

Regulation is still shaping banks’ strategic thinking, says a new study by The Economist Intelligence Unit. The unit surveyed 200 global banking executives to investigate the challenges retail banks face in the years to 2020.

While the jury is still out on how A.I. will shape the future, it is actively shaping our present.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is grabbing headlines of all technology news portals. Relevant articles feature the ways these technologies influence a wide range of industries, intertwining with businesses of all stripes and colors, healthcare, insurance, commerce, real estate, education, etc.