The COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for the digital transformation of financial institutions worldwide, making technologies such as the cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) essential components for business and success.
In a recent article, originally published by Henry Stewart Publications in the Journal of Digital Banking, nCino explores the benefits of cloud adoption and AI, and discusses how FIs can employ these technologies to help future-proof their organisations. Here are some of key takeaways:
COVID-19 showed institutions that the ability to respond quickly to unexpected challenges and continuously innovate to meet changing customer expectations in an ever-evolving global industry is vital. FIs utilizing cloud-based and cognitive technologies have a competitive advantage over organisations that choose to resist digital transformation, and this advantage will only increase over time.
The Case for the Cloud
Cloud and cloud-native technology are imperative to success, providing a cost-effective way to deploy new solutions. Further, cloud technology allows agility and innovation to meet the increasing speed at which customer expectations, competition and regulatory reporting demands evolve.
Establishing a Cloud Programme
In order to capture the very substantial benefits of a cloud platform, a number of changes are required, including the way people work, integrations with existing platforms, upgrades of risk and control mechanisms, gaining buy-in from senior management and regulatory approvals. In a full-blown implementation of cloud-first strategies, the most advanced companies succeed by deploying multiple approaches:
Developing new applications to run on cloud.
Using SaaS providers to provide specific leading-edge functionality.
Refactoring their existing applications to take advantage of cloud infrastructures.
Agility and Intelligence in the Cloud
In financial services, being an agile enterprise centres on the idea of turning important banking functions – from product development and customer acquisition to account opening and commercial lending – into a systematic, fast and frictionless process. This requires a configurable and flexible system of engagement in the cloud that allows an institution’s employees and customers to collaborate in real time, with full transparency and visibility at every step of the process. Once an FI has taken the critical step towards achieving transformative change by implementing a cloud-based solution, it begins to achieve efficiencies and agility across the organization.
In a post-pandemic world, FIs have an opportunity to revolutionise their market offerings in terms of sped-to-market and flexibility using AI and the cloud. The FIs that are able to effectively execute on a digital strategy through the right talent, focus and adoption of the cloud and cognitive technologies will be the winners in the long term and prosper in this new age of banking.
To learn more about navigating the financial services industry in a post-pandemic world, download the full article.
