What is Zafin’s positioning within the global banking and payments industry?
Zafin is a worldwide leader in digital banking. We’re a B2B fintech offering strategic pricing software that enables banks to accomplish in a few clicks what would otherwise take months and cost millions. We solve a complex problem for banks — legacy core systems and IT infrastructure prevent the industry from reacting quickly to customer demands and even simple changes can cost millions in IT spending. Pricing and product strategies at banks today are restricted because every fresh idea comes with an implementation-time caveat and seven-figure price tags. Our technology provides simple, out-of-the-box solutions that accelerate innovation and unlock new revenue strategies by enabling financial institutions to manage rates, fees, bundles and products more effectively. This enables them to grow their deposit and lending business through market-leading approaches to pricing. We allow banks to think bigger by unlocking their product strategies with the ability to go to market, test and pivot without a significant IT expenditure.
How does Zafin stand out from competitors?
Zafin is built from the ground up for banks with an unrivaled fintech heritage and track record.
Trusted by over 35 banks worldwide, like Bank of America, CIBC and SunTrust, Zafin’s platform was built from the ground up for financial services, not ported over from other industries. Sitting alongside the bank’s core system and its client-facing channels, Zafin’s suite of technology solutions helps overcome these constraints to make a fundamental shift from a product-centric to a client-centric approach. Compared to competing platforms, Zafin is able to deploy its technology within as little as three to six months instead of the traditional 12-month process. Zafin’s proven track record comes from its focus on designing a flexible, dynamic system that meets the need of banks globally and provides a project payback in less than 12 months.
What are the biggest barriers that are keeping banks from innovating?
Banks are under tremendous pressure to deliver better client experiences and sustainable growth, while operating under stringent regulatory pressure. At the same time, the banking industry faces a complex problem – banks have been conditioned to think small. Many banks today still use decades-old legacy systems and infrastructure, and rely heavily on manual processes. As a result, making product and pricing changes, launching new products, and other similar innovations become a very expensive and lengthy process. However, the task of replacing these core systems is expensive, time-consuming and risky – think of trying to change the jet engine on a 787 while in mid-flight, or performing a heart transplant while the patient is running a marathon. As digital banking and open banking rise, traditional banks are starting to see pressure from companies that have been built with agility from day one. In order to compete, traditional banks will need to explore how they can not only match, but exceed the customer experience and digital enablement provided by “big tech” today.
How is Zafin breaking those barriers down for banks?
Zafin Cloud enables retail and corporate banks to have a truly customer-centric strategy. Our software accelerates digital transformation towards efficient and streamlined banking pricing and product management processes. It offers a centralized repository for maintaining all product and bundle definitions, fees, interest and foreign exchange rates, and eligibility and suitability rules. Zafin also empowers AI-powered analytics and micro-segmentation, even down to a segment of one. There is an increasing customer demand in banking for tailored pricing. One-size-fits-all banking products are a thing of the past. Zafin provides a bank with the ability and the agility to deliver the experiences that modern consumers demand.
Using product design and client value as two key levers, banks can incentivize desirable client behavior by offering the right product to the client at the right time through the right channel at the right price. The company’s proven technology, flexible infrastructure and financial DNA helps banks enhance their revenue. Zafin’s focus on designing a flexible, dynamic system that meets the need of banks globally and provides a project payback in less than 12 months. With Zafin, banks can accomplish in a few clicks what might otherwise take months. This unlocks their product strategies with the ability to go to market, test and pivot without a significant IT expenditure. Banks not only have the ability to think bigger and futureproof their systems, but Zafin also enables them to worry less about manual processes, and focus more on building deeper and more personalized client relationships – something that was difficult, if not impossible, to do with legacy systems.
Where is the banking industry headed in the next five years?
Banking is no longer a one size fit all approach, and banks are beginning to realize that by integrating technology targeted towards the digital consumer. Over the next five years, we expect banks to shift away from outdated legacy systems and head toward digitization. One example of that is if we look at blockchain and open banking. Blockchain is already becoming an essential infrastructure for many industries, but the banking industry has only just begun tapping into its full potential. Looking at open banking – it’s something that drives customer experience. Open banking is already disrupting how data and money flow from user to user, which will continue to play a part as the industry heads toward digitization.
While banks have recently been improving the customer experience with mobile-first approaches, they need to take it a step further by personalizing their services. In this new digital era, banks have begun to require more data from customers to better understand their habits, but now need to start thinking bigger and creating more personalized customer experiences. By integrating solutions that can track customer’s habits, banks can improve experiences and increase customer retention. For example, as an industry that’s currently operating in a rising rate environment, banks can provide priority customers with more incentivized programs through the integration of systems that track customer’s everyday habits. By knowing which customers banks are not willing to lose and using these core platforms to target their specific needs, banks can proactively shift particular programs to keep key customers.