The next decade marks an incredibly important time for the digital payment industry. We are looking at not just remodelling of the current digital payment system but also a massive wave of advanced digitization and a heightened focus on digital payment experience. Online payment systems, cryptocurrency, improved fraud prevention, and more will be the prime focus in the next decade. A revolutionary global effect has been made by mobile apps like Pay2Go and PayPal on the way to make mobile payments. Banks, financial institutions, fintech enterprises have been benefitting from open APIs and fintech megatrends and applications while fintech has transformed the financial services industry immensely. Here are the most crucial five digital payment trends that are set to revolutionize the industry even further.

In the wake of a fast-moving world that’s increasingly looking to add as much convenience and ease to their lives, people are looking to do more in one single go. This need to do more is where bundled financial services will come into play. We will soon be using mobile payment apps with a single interface for multiple cards and bank accounts. Users can easily switch from one bank account to the other using a single tap.

Users will be able to view aggregated information and easily switch between one account to the other seamlessly. Such bundled services add additional value to the user’s experience of digital payments and help them pay as they go. Users won’t have to log into multiple online payment gateways to get the job done.

How Bitcoin transactions work is no secret to the world anymore. This decentralized platform of digital payment was adopted and rejected alike. However, cryptocurrency has continued to become a rising point of interest in the digital payment industry since it is not and cannot be regulated by a central financial institution.</p.

With Bitcoin becoming more energy-efficient and fast, it is expected to gain more widespread adoption in mainstream digital mobile payment methods. The adoption of cryptocurrency is already picking up speed in the countries where Bitcoin is accepted. Moreover, it’s not just Bitcoin but also other cryptocurrencies that are expected to serve as great digital wallets shortly. They offer higher security (two-factor authentication) than credit cards and are also decentralized. Thus, traditional financial institutions won’t be able to restrict its price movements.

Plus, they also won’t have any control over transaction or processing fees when making payments via cryptocurrencies, thus eliminating these extra charges. Soon, this innovatively creative online payment system will witness a boost in its performance and usage.

Since their establishment, legacy financial institutions and their methods have fared very well. However, with the evolution of technology and the adoption of digital transformation, the financial services industry has come a long way. When technology was fused with finance, the change was considered revolutionary enough.

New technologies like Cloud computing, Blockchain technology, Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Communication, RFID technology, Biometric recognition, and several others are coming into the picture. It is crucial to learn how they are transforming the financial services industry and why they are beneficial for the end-users. Banks and fintech enterprises are benefitting from open APIs and fintech megatrends and applications can be further explored. Let us dive more in-depth and have a closer look at the top five technologies transforming the financial services industry.

RFID or Radio-frequency Identification is a technology using which digital assets (data) are encoded and then automatically identified using track tags. The RFID technology has become a crucially vital protection layer used by numerous financial institutions, payment providers, and central banks to safeguard their digital assets. RFID protection is being implemented to protect servers, sensitive and classified company and customer data, laptops, hard drives, and other equipment.

Using RFID security helps these financial institutions automate numerous inventory processes, keep track of their fixed assets, increase capital visibility, boost efficiency and productivity in asset management, and remove errors due to reduced human judgment. RFID system components are also being used by banks to safeguard courier bags in which hard cash or sensitive documents are transferred from one location to the other. Plus, RFID chips embedded in credit or debit cards can even allow customers to make payments by tapping the card without having to swipe it through or wait for systems to come online.

It has been quite a few years since machine learning and artificial intelligence have been associated with finances. These were among the first technology integrations to take place when it came to the financial services industry. Even though it has been an innovative step towards a transformed future, machine learning and artificial intelligence have a long way to go into creating something revolutionary and game-changing. However, both these technologies have still made quite a lot of difference in the scene.

Fraud prevention using biometric recognition is one of the most crucial advances provided by machine learning and artificial intelligence. Now, along with using OTPs and passwords, customers can also use their fingerprints or facial prints to add additional layers of protection. Artificial intelligence has also enabled financial institutions to carry out risk management and fund prediction, thus becoming essential financial tools for business decision making.

Another crucial application of artificial intelligence as financial tools is the utilization of Robotic Process Automation. There’s no hiding the amount of paperwork and manual processes that take place in a financial institution. These redundant yet essential processes can be taken care of by Robotic Process Automation. Whether it is the maintenance of regulatory documents, extraction of summaries from lengthy business documents, or collecting statistics and numeric values, Robotic Process Automation is a blessing. Plus, since these financial tools eliminate resource wastage and boost productivity, they not only serve as great financial tools to start a business but also as financial tools for business decision making

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology, in general, have been under a lot of scrutinies, especially from legacy financial institutions. However, people all across the globe are slowly and gradually adopting cryptocurrency. This has also caused several financial institutions to consider blockchain technology and use it as a sort of regulatory means because of its decentralized nature.

Shortly, blockchain technology is expected to further the cause of transformation of the financial services industry and be used to revolutionize digital and contactless payments, loan authentication and processing, escrow services, and more. Blockchain technology will also be crucial to automate numerous processes bound by regulatory compliance standards.

The most typical queries customers have related to financial services are, in fact, straightforward and repetitive. “How can I block my stolen credit card?” “How can I unblock my card?” “How do I access my online account?” “Where is the nearest ATM?”. “Where is the nearest bank branch?” “How can I start a fixed deposit?”. Instead of a human replying to them every time, conversational banking can help automate the replies to such questions.

By using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create Internet bots or Chatbots, financial institutions can do a lot. They can quickly answer the most simple and common customer queries, walk them through the complete registration process for a service, teach them how to make transactions or withdraw money, and even serve as advisors to track their budget and spending habits. This not only adds ease and convenience to the customer’s life but also optimizes customer experiences.

With increasing usage and flourishing trends of conversational banking as a personalized customer service assistant, the financial services industry will need to hire more neuro-linguists, AI programmers, and voice recognition experts. In the next few years, we’ll also be looking at developing hybrid AI-human models that will give enough control to Internet bots but also enable human agents to step in when required quickly.

Drop us a line at info@ndngroup.com to learn more about how our technologies help expand your business in the era of fintech.

New innovations in fintech have enabled businesses and fintech startups to serve customers in novel ways. Banks, financial institutions, fintech startups and businesses have utilized fintech namely Artificial Intelligence (AI) predictive analytics, blockchain, cryptocurrency, mobile payment and social data analytics to provide superior customer experiences (CX).

As customers are businesses’ primary source of profits, market value, and growth, they need to be handled with. Before delivering the wants of the customers, businesses need to identify their deep-rooted desires and needs. In accordance with a Gartner study, 89% of global companies are expected to compete primarily on customer experiences and business leaders are becoming more proactive in finding new ways to enhance the customer journey. The widespread applications of Fintech are redefining the way businesses connect with their customers.

AI predictive analytics enhance customer experiences

Fintech is the driving force behind innovation and impacts every aspect of a company’s operations, including its ability to influence and enhance customer experiences. By 2025, as many as 95% of all customer interactions will be through channels supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Using customer data for analysis based on Artificial Intelligence and machine learning helps predict customers’ needs and real-time product feedback. Take the algorithms of services like Netflix and Spotify as examples, customers’ actions, such as watching a certain show or skipping certain songs, impact the next recommendations they will receive. Things change quickly based on customer feedback and preferences so businesses can capture what customers want at the exact moment. Also, Artificial Intelligence and machine learning can be deployed to provide intelligent, personal and informed customer experiences at any touchpoint along the customer journey.

Meanwhile, Artificial Intelligence technology helps transform customer service by making it automated and fast. AI-powered conversation agents and chatbots are used in diverse customer engagement scenarios as they are curated to simulate human interactions and offer real-time responses around the clock.

Blockchain technology creates novel business models and reshapes customer experiences

Blockchain technology has fascinating applications to proceed to the formation of contracts and lower transaction costs to reshape customer experiences. Smart contracts are a way for machines to enforce and execute contract terms and make payments without human involvement. A study by Santander has revealed that the Blockchain will slash infrastructure costs for customers to make payments and proceed securities trading as well as regulatory compliance by $15–20 billion a year by 2022.

The application of decentralized public ledger in blockchain technology allows for the emergence of entirely new product offerings and novel business models such as crowd-lending, as well as peer-to-peer (P2P) banking and insurance. Also, fintech start-ups have utilized blockchain technology for faster, safer and more transparent transactions and lower costs for customers in transactions.

Cryptocurrency lowers transaction costs for customers

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is a digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of exchange in blockchain technology. It uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions and it is limited entries in a database that no one can change.

The transaction costs of cryptocurrencies are low and making payments with cryptos can proceed worldwide. Cryptocurrencies can be stored in a digital wallet that customers can manage from a smartphone or they can store cryptos in digital wallets.

Meanwhile, digital and mobile payment are growing their market shares. It is a sign that consumers are ready to adopt these fintech technologies for daily use. Even though peer-to-peer payment companies initially only targeted younger consumers, it seems that more people have also started to use the technology for daily transactions, thereby removing the middlemen and bringing down transaction costs.

Businesses connect with customers with superior data analytics

The best way for businesses and fintech startups to boost customer experiences is to connect with them emotionally. With data analytics on customers’ preferences and behaviour, businesses are empowered to use these insights to create exceptional customer’s journeys. Marketers can utilize data to understand relevant customer needs that they can touch.

Businesses can also leverage social media data for enhancing deeper customer engagement/ segmentation and driving personalized sales outreach and lead nurturing. Businesses can leverage tactics from monitoring different social channels for posts to sophisticated sentiment analysis tools to analyze what a customer is thinking.

In conclusion, fintech is a game-changer for customer experience in almost all sector. New innovations in fintech have empowered businesses and fintech startups to offer superior customer experiences in novel ways. Businesses are willing to embrace creativity offered by fintech and go beyond the norm to stand out from competitors with richer customer experiences.

In a competitive market place, customer experience and satisfaction are always important to drive business growth. Those businesses which keep abreast of fintech megatrends and embrace innovative solutions can enjoy sustained customer loyalty.

 

Drop us a line at info@ndngroup.com to learn more about how our innovating technologies thrive your business in the era of fintech.

By now, cryptocurrency is not a stranger to the world. It has become one of the most polarising topics out there. Some see it as digital gold and to some, it’s fool’s gold. To help interested individuals understand what is cryptocurrency and the underlying Blockchain technology, NDNX Cowork Tech Hub, in partnership with Success Resources, brought Cryptocurrency Investor Summit to Hong Kong. On 28 January, over 600 people attended this full-day free summit.

NDN Group CEO Andy Ann was one of the speakers at the summit where he has shared his view on cryptocurrency and the potential of Blockchain. He stressed the need to understand two key points before fully understanding cryptocurrency.

First, Blockchain is the underlying technology of Bitcoin. It can support a wide range of applications and it is already being used for peer-to-peer payment services, supply chain tracking and more. Think accounting ledger that appears in the digital space. It is designed to store information in a way that makes it virtually impossible to change data without being detected by others. Therefore, it is tamper-proof. Today, a central authority like the government or bank verifies monetary transactions. Blockchain could replace these centralised systems with decentralised ones, where verification comes from the consensus of numerous users rather than one central authority. Any changes made on Blockchain are reflected across the entire network.

Second, one needs to grasp the genuine concept of money. Throughout history, we have used commodities like salt, cocoa, silver, gold, and in the modern economy, currency (i.e. banknotes, coins) as a medium of exchange so we don’t need to use the barter system. In fact, the banknotes we use today don’t have inherent value since it is considered as a medium of exchange. When you go to a shop and buy something, both you and the cashier agree that the banknote used, for example, a HK$100 note, represents a certain value.

You will ask, what dictates the value of a banknote? For centuries, currencies were tied to “gold standard”, meaning the value of banknotes depends on the government’s gold reserves and each can be swapped for the other. In 1931, Britain had dropped this tied and then the USA followed shortly because gold is scarce, and supply could not catch up. Nowadays, supply, demand, and faith in the government form the basis of currencies.

After the 2008 financial crisis, many don’t trust the centralised system (government, banks) anymore. In October 2008, a mysterious person who solely identify himself as Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper on “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. Few months later the first Bitcoin was launched.

Today there are over 1,000 types of cryptocurrency. People need to understand the fundamentals in order to adopt this new technology. Just like buying a home or vacation package, people need to understand and do research before they take action. It is just a matter of time, when cryptocurrency will reach mass adoption.

New technologies come and go, but the ones that stay derive from the following term: Globalisation. Take internet in the 1990s for example, no one really understands what it is, then internet traction started to roll, several internet bubbles formed and popped, but yet realised its power to bind everyone for speedy communication. By the late 2000s its services and technologies had been incorporated into virtually every aspect of human’s lives. Today we practically cannot live without it. E-commerce, Facebook, Uber, online banking, WeChat are all by-product of the internet.

The new wave for cryptocurrency is surging, and will no doubt further enhance globalisation by revolutionising speedy yet trustworthy transactions.

Blockchain technology, the underlying technology that makes cryptocurrencies possible is poised to change the way startups raise money. Blockchain provides a ledger for recording and verifying transactions and other information among multiple parties without expensive intermediaries like brokers or exchanges.

It’s being used by a growing number of companies in the financial industry and other businesses, and dozens of startups are sprouting to develop new uses for it.

Let’s explore Blockchain marketing trend together!

Entrepreneurs seeking money and capital to build their startups have been long dependent on venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. Now the many startups developing decentralized applications for blockchain technology have another option:

They can go online and easily raise millions by creating digital tokens, for use as currency on blockchain platforms, and selling them in what is known as an initial coin offering, or ICO.

Working in Cohesion with Venture Capitalists

The way ICOs work is fairly straightforward: Companies create and issue digital tokens that can be used to pay for goods and services on their platform or can be stashed away as an investment.

They put out white papers describing the platform, software or product they’re trying to build, and then people buy those tokens using widely-accepted cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether.

This suggests that rather than replacing VCs, ICOs could actually be benefiting greatly from being affiliated with them. There are few validation agents currently in place to lend credibility to ICOs.

VCs could be filling that gap, which is why aggressive ICO and Blockchain marketing approach is critical which consists- dominant strategies for raising awareness and user adoption/

Gaining Authoritative Edge with ICO Fundraising Practices

Perhaps other entities much like independent rating agencies will emerge for ICOs, assuming the market sustains itself and continues to grow. For now, the crypto-fundraising concept is so new that having a respected entity involved goes a long way to reassuring investors.

It’s a way for these startups to raise lots of money without giving up decision-making power to venture capitalists or surrendering any equity to them. This is very important as the philosophy behind the decentralized applications is that not one entity or company owns it.

ICO also makes this possible by being able to make company shares very liquid so there is always a market without any boundaries on who can buy and sell.

Liquidity is a big advantage in ICOs. Venture investments can be tied up for years before seeing a return, while markets in bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies allow for immediate trades of any currency purchased in an ICO.

We can conclude that blockchain technology which made ICOs possible will definitely change how these startups will raise money. Startup seeing this trend and the demand for decentralized applications will have huge benefit over the long term as one of the first movers, however all this first needs a dynamic blockchain marketing plan.

It is fairly easy to raise money as long as you have a good and reputable team and idea. After that market will decide the future for you. As it should be always.

lockchain Marketing With New Digital Noise

At New Digital Noise, we are exploring ICO and Blockchain Marketing together with a number of ICO leaders in the market by offering:

• Marketing strategy comprising over numerous tactics, specifying each tactics potential impact;
• Traffic package, including Facebook, Twitter, Adwords and Reddit, targeting Blockchain community;
• Deliberations by expert blockchain consultants on deployment of marketing tools.
• Consultations on legal aspects by external attorneys experienced in supporting ICOs.
• Learn more about our services today and contact us today at info@ndn.com.hk