This article claims credit unions can “launch a greenfield banking solution in under three months.” Well, there are very few greenfield situations in the US financial market and opening up any regulated institution in three months is highly unlikely. More importantly, it is almost assured that the solution being discussed supports the supplier’s vision of the future – not the vision of any specific credit union.
Will it support delivery of financial advice out-of-the-box? Does it provide personalized messages when an account is reaching a threshold related to a savings plan or discount opportunity? Will it be sensitive to the status of the individual and not disturb them while driving? Will it recognize when the individual is in an Uber and available for messaging?
The changes likely to occur in our customers’ lives over the next 5 to 10 years will be dramatic, and no platform can have all the answers to what those changes will be or what technology is required to address them.
AI will advance significantly. Consumer services will change
dramatically. Retail may become unrecognizable from how it operates today as
IoT and AI impact all aspects of design and delivery. These grandiose promises
ring hollow.
More realistic is the specific conversational service being made available by Finastra
in combination with Active.Ai. Making Active.Ai’s product available via
Finastra’s cloud-based FusionStore highlights the power of cloud computing:
Backbase, an omnichannel digital banking platform provider with American headquarters in Atlanta, and the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Finxact, a core-as-a-service platform, entered into a strategic partnership to help credit unions in their digital transformation journeys. The alliance combines Backbase’s portfolio of turnkey online and mobile banking applications with Finxact’s cloud native core banking platform. The combined front-to-back SaaS solution allows clients to launch a greenfield banking solution in under three months.
According to Backbase and Finxact, to survive and thrive in the digital era, financial institutions must embrace new approaches that can help their organizations transform faster and be more competitive. They indicated their end-to-end solution equips financial institutions with the essential components for successful digital-first banking: A cloud-native core, fully integrated with an omnichannel digital banking solution, powered by a modern and open architecture.
“This partnership provides banks and credit unions the opportunity to break free and reclaim control of their digital destiny. The combination enables the rapid launch of digital first greenfield bank operations by established banks and credit unions, or by new entrants in the fast-growing U.S. fintech space. Both Backbase and Finxact share the same digital first DNA,” Backbase CEO Jouk Pleiter said.
Another fintech alliance concerning Finastra, which has its U.S. headquarters in Lake Mary, Fla., announced the availability of Active.Ai’s conversational artificial intelligence retail banking app via its FusionStore. Credit unions can quickly deploy AI avatars to engage their members and customers 24×7 in the banking channel of their choice.
Active.Ai, which has its U.S. headquarters in New York City, helps customer support by creating intelligent virtual assistants, bringing automation and insightful customer engagement while reducing support costs. Its conversational banking technology uses advanced natural language processing and machine intelligence to enable customers to have natural dialogues over messaging, voice or IoT devices.
“Voice and messaging are greatly transforming client engagement in financial services,” Ravishankar, co-Founder and CEO of Active.Ai, said. “We are already working with Finastra customers globally, and we look forward to delivering these experiences at scale using FusionFabric.cloud capabilities.”
“Conversational banking is the next big thing in consumer banking, but financial institutions aren’t expected to become experts in AI in order to offer these services to their customers,” Eli Rosner, chief product and technology officer for Finastra said. “At Finastra, we are championing ‘innovation through collaboration,’ bringing our clients easy access to innovative and fully-vetted fintechs that provide the capabilities they need.”
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
