Technology has already altered the way we approach our finances and utilise bank services, from automatic budgeting apps that can help you build your savings, to offering the ability to access loansand apply for credit cards online.
While tech has already made it easier to track spending and move money, here are the next big advancements that could further improve customer experience.
Biometric Technology
Last year in the UK, a local store in Uxbridge paved the way for the rest of the world by using a fingerprint payment system. It was the first in the world to utilise biometric technology in this way, and now other shops and banks are considering how they can offer customers this tech.
In a bid to increase safety, finance institutions are experimenting with a range of biometric technologies including iris scanning, voice recognition and facial recognition. These would provide new security measures, where transactions would be authorised by, for example, a fingerprint, as opposed to a PIN or swiping a contactless card.
Digital Cheques
In addition to state-of-the-art tech and artificial intelligence providing new and more convenient ways to manage finances, traditional methods are being updated. One such example is cheques and, while this may seem like an outdated form of payment to many, Brits still write almost half a billion of them each year.
With the majority of people taking instant money transfers for granted, waiting six days for a cheque to clear may seem old-fashioned. However, thanks to tech, cheques could now be processed in 24 hours or less.
This system is being rolled out nationwide by the end of 2018 and will still use paper cheques, but rather than waiting for them to be cleared, banks will be able to process funds using a photograph. Depending on the bank, customers will be able to do this in-branch or via the app, making cheques a more convenient option.
Customer Service Robots
Even though more customers are choosing to manage their finances online, banks are actively seeking ways they can revolutionise their in-branch services. One such solution made headlines earlier this year, with a bank in China opening a robot-only branch in Shanghai – the world’s first artificial intelligence-only bank.
Here, customers can complete their banking by interacting with humanoid robots. Using voice and facial recognition, these robots are able to answer a wide range of questions and deliver a variety of services, including transferring money and opening an account.
From biometrics to robots, tech is continually changing the way we manage our finances, providing new and innovative methods.