How Fintech is Disrupting Customer Service
Technology has changed our way of life so rapidly that it’s hard to even call them “disruptions” any more. Indeed, today’s technological innovations are all about looking at our current way of life and seeing how else to improve it. This also means that technological innovations will play a big role in shaping our way of life post-COVID.
In particular, the World Economic Forum notes that fintech will play a key role in helping businesses recover from the effects of the pandemic. And while fintech’s role in helping businesses raise capital or invest their funds is clear, there’s also another key way that fintech can help accelerate business processes.
Fintech and customer service
Customer service is one of the biggest pillars of any business operation, and this holds especially true in today’s increasingly connected society. The average consumer is more discerning than ever, and it only takes one bad Tweet or Facebook post for word to quickly get out about your company.
As such, ramping up customer service practices will play a key role in ensuring that these goals are met. Digital adoption is already strong thanks to fintech innovations such as e-wallets and mobile investment apps, but customers still need to know how to properly manage their money. Providing accessible customer service options will therefore become a true marker for whether a bank is ready to succeed in 2021 and beyond.
How Fintech is Disrupting Customer Service in Different Industries
Banking
The Telegraph has recently called for an overhaul of the traditional banking business model in order to address rapidly shifting customer changes, particularly when it comes to value creation amongst consumers. This process can start by offering in-chat services within mobile applications; as it stands, many banking applications still rely on uploading phone numbers and emails onto their applications should customers need more assistance. Adopting in-app chats speeds this process up, but it also means that fintech companies themselves will have to adopt unified data systems that allow agents to get the information they need within a few clicks.
Supply chain
The speed information is shared is now the foundation of a successful supply chain. A post on staying productive in the new normal by Verizon Connect states that fast information sharing is a marker to customers that your business is constantly improving its services to meet their demands. The site also notes that the faster information is shared the more agile a company can be in responding to a customer’s needs. This allows companies on the supply chain to serve more customers faster. Logistics companies who rely on GPS tracking and management systems to give timely parcel updates are but one example of how this speedy information improves customer service.
Retail
Our previous post entitled ‘Card Issuing and Management: Staying Relevant Facing Ever Faster Changing Customer Expectations‘ shows that fintech companies have a huge role to play in paving the way for a stronger retail industry in the aftermath of Covid-19. Card issuing solutions are in line with the rise of alternative payments, whether through digital platforms or via online currencies. These developments prove that access to varied payment channels plays a big role in improving a business’ overall customer service.
Fintech disruptions are part and parcel of our new normal. Indeed, the impact of fintech on customer service across several industries proves just how pivotal these disruptions are when it comes to streamlining business operations while still keeping customers in the loop. Businesses are now looking to plan for post-pandemic business growth, and it looks like fintech solutions will be an essential tool to meet these goals.
How Fintech Will Shape The Future Of The Forex Market
Among mainstream investing opportunities that exist outside of the stock markets, forex trading has long been a popular option. Today, this market is the most liquid in the world, and handles a massive amount of trading activity. But it’s also a market that has evolved over the years with some thanks to technology ”” which makes it one to watch as we observe how fintech continues to develop.
The earliest sign of technology helping to expand the forex market, aside from the actual beginning of the internet age, was perhaps the emergence of smartphones and the accompanying apps. Home Business wrote a piece just two years ago covering mobile tech’s effect on the world of investing. Basically, the idea is that the connectivity phones now provide give investors unceasing access to financial markets, which in turn leads to greater liquidity and volatility. This is absolutely the case in the forex market, which traders tap into from all over the world at all hours of the day.
Alongside the involvement of mobile devices, investment markets have also seen the rise of a growing number of accessible tools and analysis that can simplify the trading process (and in some cases even make it easier to generate gains). For instance, the same article from Home Business pointed out that mobile algorithms and applications are now available, and can often provide automated glimpses of the best trading strategies. And regarding forex specifically, FXCM shows how readily available profit calculators can now provide near-instantaneous clarification of the profit and loss potential of any given trade. This enables investors to make mathematically strategic decisions far more efficiently than in the past.
These are all examples of tech’s increasingly large role in investments, and in the forex market in particular. And while they don’t necessarily fit into what we now think of as fintech, they helped to pave the way for some of the fintech-related changes we’re beginning to see in how the modern forex market actually functions.
For an existing example, we can turn to our overview of Fexco, which is currently one of the world’s most established fintech companies. Fexco includes foreign exchange sectors among the areas it provides services to, and specifically helps to facilitate cheaper and more reliable transactions. It does so, as we noted in the overview, via the PayDirect portal, which is certified for information security. In simple terms, this is an example of tech-based secure transfer enhancing the appeal of forex transactions.
In the near future, we may see more examples like this, including some that take advantage of newer and more innovative pay transfer technologies. Specifically, it’s become increasingly likely that banks and private companies facilitating forex trades are going to take advantage of the blockchain. Business Insider spoke about this last year, making a note that HSBC had already “settled $250 billion in FX trades” using the blockchain in 2018. That’s an almost shockingly large number that would seem to indicate that this method of transfer is well on its way to widespread use. And the blockchain, some would argue, is the very definition of modern fintech.
As we look forward, there’s no reason to suspect anything but a deepening relationship between fintech and the forex market. Traders will continue to use the devices, tools, applications, and algorithms made available to them to make smarter and more informed decisions. And the investments themselves will continue to be carried out via the most secure and efficient technological methods.