*NEW RESEARCH* Financial Services Predictions 2019

TechMarketView’s research theme for 2019 is The Year of the Relationship: Extend, Evolve, Optimise, and it could hardly be more appropriate for the Financial Services sector.

As the FS space continues its technology-driven, transformative journey, the importance of relationships is writ large across so many elements of the industry and the marketplace. For banks and insurers, and for providers of technology alike, the key challenge is the relationship with the customer. And it is a situation that has intensified as the barriers to entry for new market players (i.e. the Challenger Banks) have been significantly eroded, if not destroyed.

Customer acquisition, retention and engagement will ultimately decide the fate of many Financial Services providers. Whilst for the technology providers, the relevance and sustainability of their business models will depend on how quickly they can embrace services and solutions that facilitate business transformation. Supplier partner ecosystems have become the key to innovation, fast-tracking emerging technologies into the mainstream. Indeed, suppliers risk losing substantial deals if innovation and future proofing are not at the heart of the deal.

Our Year of the Relationship theme also plays into our Predictions for 2019:

Open Banking makes its presence felt
The impact of the UK’s Open Banking reforms will start to be felt as awareness grows and competition increases, initially within the lucrative payments space.

Cloud continues to accelerate
Cloud adoption will continue to accelerate throughout the UK FS sector during 2019.  Established providers within banking and insurance will increasingly temper their reservations in the face of significant business benefits and the imperative to transform their operations.

AI and cognitive will create more bespoke relationships with consumers
AI and cognitive technologies have become key areas of focus for FS over the last 24 months and robo-advisers will abound in 2019 as initiatives proliferate within the market (and the public may not even notice).

Regulators will wave the ‘big stick’ under the banner of GDPR
As yet, the regulators have not wielded their punitive weapon creating something of a period of grace following May 25th 2018 when the new GDPR rules came into force.  However, 2019 is likely to be the year the gloves come off in order to motivate the laggards and ensure FS providers follow through on their compliance obligations.

TechMarketView research clients can read the full Predictions piece here: Financial Services Predictions 2019.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '22:10' - Tagged: AI