Is Technology Changing the Personal Finance Market?

Even as we speak, personal finance is being transformed by technology. The days of going to the bank to withdraw money or update your passbook, or worrying about your security online, are gone. There are many apps now, for instance, which makes it possible for you to carry out all the functions of a bank customer without going to the bank!

There are technologies that take good care of your online data, keeping it safe and secure from data theft. As we said before, the latest technologies are making it possible to have high levels of personalization, fantastic customer experiences, and guarding the integrity of financial data.

And the best thing? These technologies are not hard to operate or master. These are quite user-friendly. Field of personal finance, customers want apps with which they can get maximum results with minimal interaction. In other words, the technologies they need have to make effortless interaction, have to be easy to use, have a low learning curve if at all, secure and fruitful. In other words, customers expect financial service firms to understand their requirements, and do their best to fulfill these without asking them.

At the very heart of developing satisfactory customer experiences, data security and personalization, technologies like machine learning, AI and blockchain are at the forefront.

Here is how these technologies are changing how personal finance works.
Banks use Chatbots and DVAs

DVAs stand for Digital voice Assistants. DVAs and chatbots are quickly changing how customers interact with institutions in the personal finance industry.

For instance, imagine you are a bank customer. You lose your ATM card belonging to the bank. In a state of panic, you call the bank’s help number and the DVA helps you through the process of blocking the card.

Or imagine that you are interested in knowing about the services of a particular company. You visit their website and even before checking out the Service page, you are greeted by a Chatbot. After a few questions and answers, you now know how the company can help you.

Chatbots and AI-powered DVAs have grown quite sophisticated, so much so that many are not able to differentiate between responses provided by people and those given by DVA. DVAs even respond to you verbally like a real person.

Whenever you visit a financial institution’s website, you are greeted by a chatbot. After just a few simple questions, you have your questions answered and queries resolved. While chatbots are effective most of the time, yet they still are not able to replace human staff completely.

DVAs are a newer development. Unlike the chatbots that interact by text, DVAs interact verbally.

Customer service experience is becoming smoother gradually, with technologies like AI. These facilitate easy interaction with banks and customers.

DVAs are still not able to access individual photos, offer personalized services based on your needs, or perform transactions like trades. This is due to security concerns. However, it is hoped that in the future, when technology becomes more secure, DVA shall become more reliable.
Data makes personalization possible

Data is strong enough to propel the global economy. Every single decision is taken based on data. It is the key to understanding customers, and to provide a more personalized experience. All types of companies, and even banks, have access to customer data. Where do these data come from? These come from demographic information, website analytics, online purchase records, and more. With machine learning, companies develop easy-to-understand customer profiles.

For instance, financial institutions are using machine learning to learn about their customers. This technology is smart enough to recommend products to customers based on their preferences. These are also smart enough to offer products at prices at which customers are most likely to buy them.

In the future, personalization can reach a level in which technology can negotiate price with customers like a human.
Blockchain

Blockchain is used by financial institutions to make secure transactions. The most widely-recognized blockchain technology is the one that powers Bitcoin.

Blockchain allows sellers to sell items with the knowledge that payment is received. It keeps track of all transactions in a secure environment or “ledger”. The number of copies of a ledger is in thousands, which makes it virtually impossible for the information to be stolen.
Blockchain benefits customers globally

This technology is used to transfer funds around the world. Imagine hundreds of billions of US dollars sent exchanged across the world. Traditionally, such transactions were expensive and convoluted. Blockchain makes it simple and less costly.

Merchants use the technology to benefit a lot. They no longer need to fear that a customer will bounce a cheque. Customers already are already able to track the ownership of a product. Blockchain may also act as an escrow account by releasing products after receipt of payment.

As you can see, these technologies mentioned above are giving rise to a new era, an era when personalization in financial services is the norm. Over the next few decades, their use shall expand. Customers shall be serviced with a high degree of accuracy. Risk will be eliminated greatly as well.