Signing off for the year

This will be my last blog post of 2013 (hey, no cheering, you know you will miss me really!)

It's been an eventful year for yours truly. I recently became Group Editor, FStech and Retail Systems and have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge thus far. I'm looking forward to taking the sister titles forward; lots of stuff on the horizon, including a redesign of the magazines and a new member of staff to work across both publications. And I'll be hitting the ground running in 2014 with the FStech Awards (shortlist to be announced in the New Year, followed by the judging day in late January and the big night in March...phew, lots to get through). 

 

OK, I'm off to eat Waitrose Heston mince pies, drink cheap sherry and generally be merry. Thanks to all who have supported and worked with FStech and Retail Systems this year. Happy Christmas and here’s to a prosperous 2014!

#epicsocialmediafail

This amused me. Stacy Keach reads a selection of #AskJPM tweets. Watch it here.

In case you missed it last week, JPMorgan Chase was forced to cancel a Q&A session on Twitter after the public responded with a barrage of abuse and questions. The bank asked followers to post questions for an executive using the hashtag #AskJPM. One user tweeted: 'Is it true that, while you don't always spit on poor people, when you do, you have perfect aim?' 'Can I have my house back?' another asked.

It was eventually forced to pull the plug, tweeting: 'Tomorrow's Q&A is cancelled. Bad Idea. Back to the drawing board.'
 
 

How FS firms can rebuild trust and improve customer engagement

Guest blog post by Andrew Hayward, COO, m-hance

When’s the last time you returned to a restaurant after a bad experience or purchased products from a company who provided shoddy customer service? As consumers ourselves we acknowledge that without trust there can be no viable relationship between businesses and their clients.

Speaking at the recent Regulatory Policy Institute’s Annual Competition and Regulation Conference, Christopher Woolard from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) stated: “Probably the biggest single issue is without engaged consumers, firms have all the wrong incentives. Firms that are focused on customer service and good value products can’t win significant market share from incumbents – even those who treat their customers poorly or like cash cows. This leads to a vicious circle where lack of consumer engagement makes other competition problems worse.”

Faced with sluggish growth, uncertainty about the future and greater regulatory compliance, there is a desperate need for financial services organisations to become closer to their customers for the right reasons. To achieve this, firms must excel by:

• Offering relevant, high quality products and services that are compliant with FCA regulations
• Listening to customer feedback and acting on it by demonstrating a clear audit trail
• Placing customers’ needs first to improve the overall experience
• Proactively taking action to address potential issues and points of pain

Leading integrated financial management, document management and CRM solutions  enable financial services companies to audit their customer interactions, maximise sales productivity, improve cash flow and become more competitive in the marketplace through improved customer service and engagement. By securely maintaining quality, up-to-date and accurate data which is instantly accessible, integrated systems enable customers to be automatically kept informed about relevant offers and products whilst ensuring firms do not fall foul of tightening FCA regulations. Automating manual service processes also saves your employees significant amounts of time which can instead be focused on strengthening customer relationships and generating additional revenue in addition to cutting admin costs.

Businesses that persist with spreadsheets and standalone systems will never gain a comprehensive view of financial, sales and marketing data to determine what is and isn’t working in order to make informed decisions about how and when they engage their customers. In contrast, integrated software systems turn real-time data into actionable insight, enabling you to quickly establish what stage your customers are situated in the buying cycle and when is best to contact them with the right offer which is tailored to their needs.

Building trust takes time and effort but can provide considerable benefits in the short and long term. In the financial services sector, where competition is intense, the need to improve customer engagement is even more crucial. With ever increasing expectations, the need to have the right systems in place to effectively understand and allocate appropriate messaging and resources to clients is therefore vital.

Integrated business technologies offer firms the opportunity to really get to know their customers. By providing timely and accurate data, finance and CRM systems significantly improve productivity and help generate sustained future opportunity and revenue streams through better targeting. This leads to increased customer loyalty and a long lasting relationship that benefits both sides, as well as boosting the reputation of the financial services industry at a time when it really needs it.

Further information here.

The new iPhone: the dawn of biometric?

Guest blog post by Sascha Breite, head of future payments, SIX Payment Services

Even by Apple’s usual standards, it’s been a big couple of weeks. The release of new software update iOS 7 and the much-anticipated launch of the new iPhone have combined to create a greater-than-normal buzz around the brand. Add to this the recent Interbrand list, naming Apple above Google or Coca Cola as the highest valued global brand, and it’s easy to understand why the launch of the new iPhone has created waves beyond the mobile handset industry.

This is particularly true of the payments industry, where mobile payments continue to dominate the discussion. This is a space which is currently experiencing significant flux – from PayPal to PingIt, Znap to Zapp, iZettle to Intuit, it seems as if everyone wants in on the mobile payments action. The only remaining barrier, it would appear, is consumer trust in mobile payment products.

This is precisely why any change to the UK’s most popular handset – the iPhone 5 has been Britain’s number one handset for seven consecutive months – will be taken seriously by payments professionals. Take, for example, the decision by Apple to not include Near Field Communication (NFC) technology in the new model. A number of commentators have chosen to see this as flat-out dismissal of NFC, suggesting this signifies the end of the road for contactless payments. And while it is true that without Apple backing NFC technology will struggle to reach mass market, I am not convinced by this argument. There are a number of popular Google products – Google Maps, iOS Passbook, to name a couple – that would greatly benefit from in-built NFC technology. Apple will join the NFC market, but only when they see fit to do so.

The far more interesting development, in my opinion, is the inclusion of biometrics in the iPhone 5s. The fingerprint identification technology removes the need for a passcode to unlock the screen, and consequently paves the way for mainstream consumer familiarisation with biometrics. In other words, the iPhone 5s may well do globally for biometrics, what the Oyster card has done for contactless in London. And if we bear in mind the current consumer distrust of mobile payment technology, the significance of this becomes all the clearer.

Biometrics are certainly a secure method of identification, reducing consumer security concerns around new technology. Apple is placing the chances of a random unregistered fingerprint unlocking an iPhone at 1 in 50,000, a significant five times better than the four-digit PIN currently used. What’s more, it’s a great way for consumers to engage with new identification technology – and after all, isn’t half the mobile payment battle to do with identification anyway?

While Apple’s developments may not necessarily illustrate an obvious interest in the payments market, it is clear that these changes will have far reaching impacts – most notably on consumer attitudes towards biometric identification. But that isn’t to say Apple has closed the door on NFC. Watch this space, for there is sure to be more.

Mobile payments: friend or foe?

Guest blog post by Tony Virdi, Head of Cognizant's Financial Services Practice for the UK and Ireland 

VocaLink’s introduction of its new mobile payment service, Zapp, is the latest sign that mobile payments are gaining serious momentum. With the anticipated launch of the UK Payments Council’s ubiquitous interbank mobile P2P payments service next year, we are seeing a major disruption to traditional banking.

To date, it is clear that banks have not been able to truly capitalise on the wider m-commerce opportunity available. The disparate nature of retailers, banking institutions and consumers themselves have placed many obstacles in the road and while many mobile payment and mobile banking apps exist, they have either been platform-specific and tricky to interoperate, or unable to fulfil banking and payments standards.

Mobile payments technologies themselves are in their infancy; their continued evolution is affecting tried and tested payment acceptance processes. Services like Square, iZettle and Paylaven are disrupting traditional merchant payment providers while at the same time, smartphones are becoming payment acceptance devices, thereby reducing the time to bring on board new merchants and also reducing cost of transaction.

As new wearable devices such as Google Glasses and the iWatch arrive on the scene, their ease of use will allow customers will complete even more digital transactions on the go. This all means that banks are increasingly focusing on m-commerce as a means of both providing better customer service and meeting demand as well as enhancing their top lines. M-commerce provides banks with unique opportunities to develop complete and holistic payment solutions in collaboration with retailers and telecom providers so as to provide customers with seamless, safe and secure ways of paying for the goods and services they buy on their mobile devices.   

However, with an increase in mobile payments also comes risk. Whether anti-money laundering (AML), fraud, device theft or shoulder surfing, this is no different to any other new technology. In the case of mobile payments, these risks converge with those of the financial services and telecommunications industries. For example, big data analytics helps such organisations comply with industry regulations and better manage risk. As a result, the regulators, telecom operators and hardware vendors will all need to work closely together to parry the threats of fraud and have the technology and processes in place to achieve this.

Only once these problems have been overcome will the market flourish. Above all, ensuring a good customer experience should be the ultimate goal for all parties involved – mobile payments need to be easy and risk free. With constant movements in the industry and new players entering the game, the wind of change is rife and it is progressively being driven by consumer demand as they seek new channels for payments (and communication). Banks must embrace this disruption at pace to retain their relevance and move with the times.

Waxing lyrical

The latest FStech videocast is now online, in which I discuss some of the financial sector technology stories that have caught my eye over the past couple of weeks.

This includes the news that Fidelity Investments is testing a Google Glass markets app. The US FS firm's R&D arm, Fidelity Labs, is participating in a Google early developer programme, and is working with a prototype of Google Glass to better understand the technology and how it may benefit customers.

It has issued a concept video entitled 'A day in the life of a Fidelity customer using Google Glass'. And it has also released its first experiment with the technology, allowing customers to receive, at market close, quotes from the major indexes.

You can watch the videocast here.

Latest FStech videocast

The latest FStech videocast is now online.

In this one, I give the lowdown on the FStech Multi-Channel Banking Conference, which took place last month. There is also a full review of the conference in our July/August, due out next week. Click here for subscription details.

You can watch the videocast here.

Happy viewing!

Teenagers. Who knows what they want? They do…

Guest blog post by Harrison Roberts (currently doing work experience at FStech)

Teenagers often read articles written by experts, who are a few decades away from the people they are supposedly representing, about what they want from their banks. Maybe these experts know what they’re talking about (to be fair they probably do) but the people that really know what teenagers are looking for are, quite obviously, teenagers.

So here we have it, a blog post about what teenagers want from banking, written by a teenager. Firstly I do not pretend to be expressing the thoughts of the entire teenage species, just my thoughts. A lot of people seem to believe that young people wish to have any and all information fired at them through social media such as Facebook or Twitter, however this is not entirely true in areas such as banking. I can see the idea; social media is a simple and easy way to contact a massive audience (average of over 4,000 followers for biggest banks) at no cost. However as a teenager, I would log on to Twitter to follow what various celebrities had for breakfast. I wouldn’t think of searching to see what Barclays’ most recent hashtag has been. Social media has its purpose, and that purpose isn’t banking.

Another common misconception is that if a teenager cannot do whatever it is they want to do on their phone, then they simply will not do it. Mobile banking is very useful and is becoming a necessity in the modern world. According to an online and mobile banking report by Online Financial Innovations, “We are almost at the peak of online access, with just one million new online households added last year, the fewest annual total since internet banking came on the scene in 1995. The growth going forward will almost all be on the mobile front.”

Despite this, I do feel that face-to-face, ‘in-store’ meetings with an actual human can often be just as, if not more, helpful and convenient as using your mobile or PC. Perhaps the use of technologies like kiosks or even iPads in branches would reinvigorate branch banking and would stop in their tracks those who say that the end is nigh for the High Street?

Cross channel challenges

Banks with multi-channel aspirations must shake off old ways of working and start acting more like start ups. And they have much to learn from retailers in this respect. That was one of the messages to come from the FStech Multi-Channel Banking Conference, which took place in London yesterday.

 

Featuring contributions from the likes of Barclays, HSBC, Santander, BNP Parabas, Consult Hyperion, Ovum and Intellect and chaired by Practicology's Martin Newman, the conference looked at how banks are progressing in terms of multi-channel strategies and delivering the consistent service needed to engage and retain customers.  

 

A big thank you to all our speakers and panellists and sponsors, Perforce and Transversal, plus analyst partner Ovum, for helping to make it a really good day; there was lots of lively debate on such topics as mobile banking, future challenges of mobile banking, multi-channel banking security, improving the customer experience and social media. Thanks also to Martin Newman who did a great job as chairman.

 

A full review of the conference will appear in the July/August edition of FStech magazine, available early August.  

Everybody was multi-channel banking!

Apologies, terrible heading, I know...Anyhoo, last minute plug for the FStech Multi-Channel Banking Conference, taking place tomorrow at the IoD Hub, London.

I'm reliably informed that there are a few delegate places remaining, so if you're in London tomorrow and fancy catching up on all things multi-channel banking-related, you can register to attend here.

Chaired by Practicology's Martin Newman, the conference will look at how banks are progressing in terms of multi-channel strategies and delivering the consistent service needed to engage and retain customers. It will also highlight the latest technology solutions available to institutions looking to achieve multi-channel success.

There will be speakers/panellists from the likes of Barclays, HSBC, Santander, BNP Parabas, Ovum and Intellect. The conference agenda can be found at: http://www.fstech.co.uk/conference/agenda.php 

Hopefully see you there!

Do you have a flight recorder on your website?

Guest blog post by John Thompson, CEO, User Replay

Commercial aircraft have carried flight recorders for over 50 years. These devices do not prevent crashes directly, but their invaluable data enables technical bugs to be fixed, improving safety for us all. Knowing what actually happened also resolves disputes about liability and compensation. Like a damaged airplane, a crashed website cannot talk back, and often leaves few clues as to what happened. When a web transaction goes wrong this lack of audit trail creates disputes, particularly on financial services sites where transactions may have significant value.

Similarly, if a recording is made of all user interactions with a website, errors can be found and fixed. Bugs on sites often go unreported, but they damage conversion rates and customer experience significantly. Who has not been scared away by a 404 error? Bugs can be very elusive and hard to replicate because they are often triggered by a complex combination of circumstances. It is therefore important to record them at the time they happen so they can be replayed both visually in screen shots and at the level of the underlying code.

A recording of web journeys also helps with disputes. “Yes you did buy the fund that went down, and here is a slide show of screenshots of you doing it.” We wouldn’t contemplate not recording telephone conversations when selling financial products, or having a bank branch without a CCTV, but we are happy to trade millions through websites with only the most rudimental log files recording events.

Recording all transactions on a website is now relatively straight forward technologically. The technology is known as ‘session replay’ and there are a number of excellent vendors. In Econsultancy’s 2012 Report on Customer Struggle, 57 per cent of respondents recognised that session replay is very effective but only 17 per cent had it implemented on their sites. Maybe session replay is a technology whose time has come?

Certainly Cofunds has achieved great results with this technology as you can see here: http://www.userreplay.com/resources/cofunds_case_study

New to FStech: videocasts

FStech has launched a new videocast series in which we wax lyrical on all things financial sector technology-related.

To kick things off, I give my take on the war against cash.

You can watch the video here.

Hope you enjoy it!

Contactless on the box

Visa is once again shouting about the many merits of contactless. This week has seen it launch a new TV advertisement across 19 European countries.

Not sure about the ad. Doesn't really work for me. Aren't old people funny? Queen's a bit of an obvious choice for the soundtrack, no? And to quote a colleague I just showed it to: I don't understand. It's stupid.

You can watch it here.

Google Glass: your wearable bank

Guest blog post by David Webber, managing director, Intelligent Environments 

Imagine walking into your favourite clothes shop and as you do so a simple screen, which only you can see, appears inside your peripheral vision. As you step across the shop’s threshold, several options pop-up on the screen. These vary from the shop’s new clothing range, items on sale and your bank balance. Whilst browsing the clothes rack, you spot an item you’d like. You wink to access your online bank account and check your current account balance. This allows you to instantly decide whether you can afford the item, or wait until next month…

This isn’t some ‘minority report’ style look at the future: it’s a snapshot of how we will be interacting with our banks within 12 months. The ground-breaking wearable technology, Google Glass, a computer integrated into a pair of spectacles, promises to re-define our relationship with the digital world. Using touch controls and voice recognition, it will allow users to capture photos and videos, view emails, use apps and surf the web on the move. It marks a fundamental shift towards a more digitally connected future. And it has big implications for financial service providers.

New research by Intelligent Environments reveals that 16 per cent of British consumers are already interested in using Google Glass to manage their finances, without even seeing or testing a working prototype. This figure rises to 26 per cent for 18 to 24 year olds; which means once the technology is available to buy banks will need to ensure they have a clear idea of how to extend their digital banking experience to wearable technology. We’re already seeing an increase in multi-channel banking with mobile banking apps for smartphones and tablets, alongside online web browser banking. The challenge for the financial services industry will be to ensure the experience between all platforms from web browser to smart TV and Google Glass, is seamless.

Of course, security will be a big issue. A debate, still raging among mainstream commentators, focuses on the security and privacy implications of Google Glass. Similarly, financial sector firms will need to consider how privacy of financial transactions can be maintained if they’re taking place on a wearable technology platform, on the move. Providers will need to have a sophisticated security system in place which works across all banking platforms and can deal with the potential vulnerabilities presented by Google Glass. However, what’s clear is that it and the products it will inevitably inspire will open up a new and thrilling world for digital banking. I can’t wait to own the UK’s first pair and explore the possibilities for financial institutions and their customers.

Oi, Bank of England, keep a woman on English banknotes!

So, Winston Churchill is set to replace social reformer Elizabeth Fry as the face of £5 notes. This means that, other than the Queen, there will be no women featuring on our English bank notes.

There's a petition against this at Change.org, which can be found here. It notes that, "An all-male line-up on our banknotes sends out the damaging message that no woman has done anything important enough to appear...People will perhaps say that the Queen appears on all the notes. But the Queen would be there whatever she achieved - she was born into her position. The men on the banknotes - Charles Darwin, Adam Smith, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and soon, Winston Churchill - are all there because of what they have done, not because of who their parents were."

Quite right, I say. You know what to do, good people. 

Taking the current account plunge

Research issued by first direct shows that 44 per cent of UK adults have never switched their current account and a further 27 per cent have only moved their banking once. Also, only four per cent said they will definitely change their current account provider in the next two years.

When asked what would prompt them to switch, two thirds flagged up the introduction of charges by their current provider and 54 per cent poor customer service. However, only 15 per cent stated they were extremely satisfied with their current account provider.

Just been asking people what I work with and their feedback backs up this survey. Sample comment: "I've been with Barclays for years and see no reason why I would change now."

It's the same with me. I've been a NatWest customer since my teens. I remain with them not because I think they provide an amazing service (overall it's OK and there have been times when I've felt badly treated), but because I consider switching, then put it off, telling myself it's too much hassle. Will this change with the emergence of new entrants and the launch of the new seven-day account switching service in September? Meh. I dunno. Maybe...

Sainsbury's banks on LBG buyout

Here's an interesting one...Sainsbury's is closing in on full ownership of Sainsbury's Bank. The supermarket giant confirmed this morning that it will take control of the bank by buying the 50 per cent held by partner Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) in a £248 million deal.

Sainsbury's was the first major British supermarket to open a bank, launching in 1997 in a 50/50 joint venture with Bank of Scotland, later subsumed by Lloyds. It says that this latest move gives it the opportunity to increase its number of customers and enhance loyalty by offering accessible, high quality and tailored products which reward customers who bank and shop with it...But will it become a major player? Probably not. It currently has just over one million customers and has been making a decent profit for Sainsbury's and LBG. But that's unlikely to worry retail banking's 'big five' (Lloyds, RBS, Barclays, HSBC and Santander UK) who still (rather depressingly) control the majority of UK current accounts. The government is keen to encourage greater competition but customers remain reluctant to switch.

Technology wise, over a 42 month period the bank will transition support and back office services away from Lloyds Banking Group. Call centre services will be provided in-house by the bank and banking platforms will be delivered by FIS. All parties have been working together for a number of months to agree a detailed transition plan.

According to a statement issued by Sainsbury's: "The transition will involve the transfer of data from legacy Lloyds Banking Group systems to the latest generation banking platform. This platform will allow a greater degree of flexibility, enabling new product launches and facilitating a much improved digital offer to customers."

Certainly, all involved will be hoping to tread a different path to that of Tesco Bank, which experienced various problems resulting in a raft of negative headlines when it broke with RBS and set up its own core banking system. Ugh. Who'd be a retail banker, eh?

Contactless works when handled with care

Shock horror! A contactless story which is not just a case of all hype and no substance. I still say that lots more work needs to be done to sell this way of paying to the general public, but Marks & Spencer is a good example of how it should be done. The retailer has completed a roll-out to 644 of its UK stores, including its railway and airport franchise stores. It is processing over 230,000 contactless transactions every week. Fourteen per cent of M&S card transactions under £20 are now completed by this method and a quarter are processed at self-checkout points in the Food Halls. 

The roll-out followed a trial in 25 London stores last summer. Although London continues to have the highest levels of contactless transactions, M&S is seeing increasing use of these cards in other busy urban centres including Manchester, Croydon and Reading. Richard Cooke, store manager at M&S Finsbury Pavement, which completes around one in three of its card transactions under £20 by contactless, comments: "In busy central stores that receive a huge lunch time rush, contactless payment is helping to revolutionise the customer experience. Self- check out tills are already very popular, but contactless helps reduce queue times even further, giving customers a payment option that’s even quicker than cash."

Now, all we need is more retailers getting onboard in similarly enthusiastic fashion and more British banks rolling out cards to all their customers and, hey presto, we've got momentum, baby (as someone once sang). Simples.

Multi-channel banking conference: call for speakers

The FStech Multi-Channel Banking Summit is due to take place at the IoD Hub, London on Thursday, 4 July.

This will be chaired by Practicology's Martin Newman and will feature speakers/panellists from Santander, HSBC, Clearwater Corporate Finance, Ovum, IDC Financial Insights, Accenture and Conversocial. I'm currently on the look out for further speakers/panellists representing financial institutions. Interested in taking part? Then drop me a line (contact details here).

A mixture of speaker presentations and discussion panels, the conference will look at how banks are progressing in terms of multi-channel strategies and delivering the consistent service needed to engage and retain customers. It will also highlight the latest technology solutions available to institutions looking to achieve multi-channel success.

Topics under discussion will include:

- Using mobile and social media to effectively engage with Generation Y banking customers.
- The High Street’s not dead: what will the branch of the future look like?
- Security/fraud issues.
- The latest multi-channel technology solutions.
- Future challenges to address in order to move forward with multi-channel strategies in the long-term.

The lady's not returning

So, farewell then Maggie...

I wouldn't class myself as vehemently anti-Thatcher. She was right on some things (the Falklands, plus taking on the unions and in particular that populist buffoon Arthur Scargill). She was, however, also a political one trick pony, a streetfighter who frequently showed a vicious disregard for anyone who didn't agree with her and who lost her way in spectacular fashion during the later years of her leadership.

But, from an FStech point of view, you have to hand it to the Iron Lady; her government's reforms set off the Big Bang, transforming the way that the City operated and making it an international player. The City also expanded east, to Canary Wharf, something strongly backed and pushed through by Thatcher. Banker bashing may be all the rage these days. Yet thanks to the sweeping changes she ushered in, financial services remains one of the few industries in which this country occupies world leader status.

So, farewell then Maggie. I was seven when you came to power and in my late teens when you left office. I'll never forget my staunchly left wing A level History teacher rejoicing on the day you resigned as PM and party leader. Thanks for the memories, some good, some bad, but, as I'm sure you would have forcibly argued, you have to take the rough with the smooth. RIP.

The FinTech 50 – the future of finance

Guest blog post by Alex Macpherson, Head of the Ventures team, Octopus Investments

The FinTech 50 provided a great opportunity to learn about and discuss the current trend of emerging innovative financial technology companies in Europe. The FinTech sector has never looked more exciting as economic, technological and social catalysts combine to create an appetite for innovation in this market. The financial services companies themselves are recognising that they need to invest in new technologies to manage the pressures of increased data flow, content production and user demand. What’s more, it is still early days and the opportunity for the FinTech market to respond to these needs and rapidly grow is clear.

The market is huge, with the term ‘FinTech’ encompassing many different sectors within the financial services industry – from banking to electronic payments to insurance to foreign exchange operations. Nevertheless, within this broad industry there are three particular areas where, to my mind, the drivers for change are resulting in innovative FinTech companies developing solutions that are and will dramatically alter the way business is conducted.

Peer-to-peer lending and crowd funding

With savers receiving paltry interest rates from banks on their deposits and newspaper headlines repeatedly serving as a reminder that funding for  small businesses and individuals is scarce, it is unsurprising that we are seeing such growth in peer-to-peer lenders connecting these two groups of dissatisfied customers. Funding Circle, which provides businesses loans, and Zopa, for individual loans, are two examples of this business model in practice. The Financial Services Authority has recognised the growth in crowd funding companies, and it is good to see the likes of Seedr and CrowdCube obtaining regulatory approval for their business activity to endorse the legitimacy to this form of lending.

Automatic processing and electronic exchanges

There is a significant opportunity for new innovative technologies across all areas of processing financial trades, as we seek to remove human intervention and the risk of human error that comes with it. Over the last few years we have seen the decline of open-outcry or face-to-face exchanges in favour of the electronic trading platform. This has been applied across product categories, most recently with the introduction of platforms for listed securities and high yield bonds with the likes of Chi- X and Vega Chi bringing innovative solutions to the market. The subsequent reduction in errors and cost savings of automatic trades should be regarded as a positive outcome for the financial services industry as a whole, and the opportunity for continued developments in this area is immense. FinTech companies are also crucially helping to reduce the cost of doing business by bringing new innovative technologies to market. This is well illustrated by the mutual funds industry, which has for a number of years existed with numerous different systems and little connectivity between them. However, Calastone is now providing a global transaction network for the industry to help make the overall market more efficient. 

Regulation

The shadow of the financial crisis continues to loom large over the industry, and the proliferation of regulation is just one side effect.  Again this provides opportunity to a variety of FinTech businesses that are focusing on finding ways of helping companies meet an increasing number of regulatory requirements. Semafone, for example, aims to support PCI DSS compliance, ensuring companies meet standards for the handling of cardholder payment information. New businesses and the technologies they bring to market often evolve out of the need to solve a problem and this is particularly significant in the financial services technology space.

As evidenced by the above there is a wealth of opportunity for FinTech businesses as changes to technology, business practices, consumer attitudes and regulation combine to create a dynamic and quickly evolving industry. The FinTech 50 Watchlist celebrates all companies in this space that have the potential to significantly transform an aspect of the industry, or the competitive staying power to continue being one of the industry’s game-changing technologies. The future of the financial services truly lies in the lands of the FinTech entrepreneur.