During the past year, we have seen an explosion in the popularity of mobile and online banking services, but in 2018 there will be new technological trends in relation to the financial industry. Virtually all of the products or services offered by financial institutions depend on technology. This collaboration translates into a series of product offerings, provides a positive customer experience and ensures that services and businesses operate efficiently. Here are 6 trends that we should pay attention to in 2018:
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GOODBYE TO “TRADITIONAL” BANKS
A Forbes report states that 40% of US citizens have not visited a bank or a credit institution in the last 6 months. This report also shows that due to the rise of mobile banking services and online between 1995 and 2015 the n u number of banks f í musicians pr dropped to virtually half.
With so many users doing their banking operations online and from their mobile phones, the need to use physical banks has been reduced. Even users of online banking platforms have declined, as many of them prefer to use mobile platforms that allow them to budget, manage their banking operations, pay and use the collaborative financing services from their own mobile devices.
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SECURITY
In the last 2 years, there has been a wave of criminal attacks that have affected some financial institutions. This is the reason why security constitutes a “forced trend” in 2018. These attacks have allowed the theft and exploitation of users’ personal information.
In 2018, all citizens of the European Union will witness a major change in terms of security. This change focuses on the general norm of data protection . These regulations are designed to increase the protection of data for all people within the EU . Companies must comply with the provisions of the regulation and those that do not, will be exposed to the payment of important fines.
The attacks that have occurred in 2017 have been the consequence of failures in security and privacy controls. In 2018, the institutions will focus on the use of technology and on procuring and guaranteeing its security for all users.
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GREATER USE OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
Blockchain is the technology behind the Bitcoin digital currency, but the technological community is finding different uses for it. Blockchain is an open distributor accounting record that records transactions between two parties in an efficient and verifiable manner.
What makes the Blockchain technology is so popular is that it allows secure exchanges of pr to virtually anything, from money to ideas , and copyright. Eliminate the intermediary that was previously necessary to manage the transaction and the entire process is done virtually.
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THE USE OF SERVICES OF FINTECH COMPANIES
Previously, we analyzed the fact that customers are not only increasingly using mobile banking services systems but, at the same time, are completely changing the ways to spend and manage their money. It is about the influence of the so-called financial technology companies or FinTech . They are not subject to financial regulations and offer greater freedom. They are giving consumers the opportunity to participate in financing or n collaborative, finance debt and borrow money simply and without too much fuss.
The popularity of FinTech companies is growing, since they offer cheaper services than traditional banks and their use is simpler.
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LESS AND LESS PHYSICAL MONEY
The cash , a human invention that according to historians can have between 4,500 and 2,700 years old , lives a declining mind that pushes him toward an uncertain future. Although fertilizers coins and banknotes are still widely majority, they are declining for years and increasingly unnecessary efforts trying to make them as mobile payments, contactless cards or instant transfers arise. The doubt, therefore, is not whether they will continue to fall, but to what level and in what term.
“Within 20 years the cash, the coins, will be pieces of curiosity, kept as a fetish, ” said Emilio Ontiveros , president of Analistas Financieros Internacionales (AFI), in a forum of ‘El País’. Other experts are more cautious. “The use of cash continues to be reduced but it does so gradually and its complete disappearance is not yet seen in the medium term, ” says Santiago Carbó , executive director of Funcas Financial Digitization Observatory and CUNEF professor of economics.
The number of card payments in shops did not stop rising during the crisis and between January and June accumulated an increase of almost 13% (1.62 million transactions), while cash withdrawals at ATMs just rose by 1, 3% (455,813). But what is more significant is that the amount of card operations (124.406 million euros, 10.75% more) exceeded last year for the first time cash removed from ATMs (118.274 million, 2.97% more ), a trend that has remained in the first half (63.917 million against 58.500 million).
Many people do not carry physical money with them and, instead, choose to use systems such as credit cards. However, digital currency even reduces the need to use cards.
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CONSTANT INNOVATION
Nowadays, what helps the FinTech industry to be competitive in relation to institutions of greater importance is its capacity for innovation. In turn, these companies put pressure on established institutions to continue innovating.
A part of this innovation is the transformation or digital n. Social, mobile and cloud-based technologies offer new breakthroughs in terms of cost savings and security. Mobile banking services provide consumers with a convenient way to spend and save.
The key factors driving innovation and trans formative changes include the improvement of operations, the simplification of the operation of products and services, and compliance with the provisions of the regulations.
A quick change can be positive
It is easy to feel that all the changes in the financial industry have taken place quickly and that it has been difficult to keep up. It seems like yesterday when we were waiting in line at a bank to deposit a check and today it is as simple as taking a photo with phone é smart phone.
Today we can send money to another person instantly, pay bills automatically and participate in the collaborative economy much easier. All these changes have made realizing and understanding banking operations much easier, while requiring the financial industry to keep the day.
