With the constant evolution of the financial industry and consumer relations, now more digital, new challenges are presented, and a careful look is needed not only in the adoption of innovative technologies that improve people’s lives, but also in the operational efficiency and continuity of business. Topics related to the cost of customer acquisition, heavily inflated during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the profiting of the customer bases acquired herein, become mandatory. But in addition to these topics, I present some other trends that should mark the year 2023.
1 – Engagement and loyalty
With the increased competition and visible dispute for the principality of the client, it becomes essential to optimize the management of the client portfolio. Engaging consumers through traditional channels and/or generic campaigns is insufficient. It is necessary to build a framework that allows us to see the customer and the business in a comprehensive way, segment it and then innovate in the rule of communication and activation. How to do this?
- Launching customized products;
- Engaging dormant clients through better data usage;
- Making the client protagonist, independent of the channel;
- Optimizing kyc tooling;
- Making use of ecosystems and Open Finance effectively; and
- Offeringa true omnichannel, integrated and fluid experience.
2 – Embedded Finance enabling new business
Macroeconomic uncertainties and capital flight in startups and fintechs causes a realignment of priorities in the market. Large transformation projects undergo a readjustment, emphasizing shorter and value-generating journeys quickly. Enable newdigital financial products with agility, giving preference to SaaS, emerges among the priorities of the institutions. Although the Embedded Finance concept is not new, in 2023 we will see modalities more tailored to value creation in the short term.
3 – Financial inclusion
The “forced” process of financial inclusion we went through during the pandemic is indisputable. The unavailability of physical channels, closed due to the pandemic, caused the need to include people through digital means. This movement has been enhanced by major regulatory changes in recent years and remains one of the Central Bank’s priorities. In addition, we have fintechs and neobanks breaking paradigms and offering products to audiences historically excluded from the financial system. Open Finance will also be a catalyst for financial inclusion, as greater availability of consumer information should provide the construction of products that are more adherent to the needs of the unbanked population.
4 – Easier investments
Thebig trend utra for 2023 has been Fixed Income. The scenario of inflation and high selic rate, attract the investor public to fixed income. However, there is still much to be done regarding the availability of products, universalization of digital access, as well as the technological capacity of institutions to ensure the processing of high transactional volumes inherent to the digital world. It is necessary to invest in modern technology so that the investment market can scale at the speed that digital requires.
5 – Smart Treasury and backoffice
Treasury are still areas where there is plenty of room for automation and efficiency gain. The digitization of the backoffice has been a recurring theme in recent years, however, there are immense opportunities. Thinking about Agribusiness, for example, backoffice processes for approval of credits to the producer are extremely manual and take days or even weeks to be finalized. Such inefficiencies harm the producer, cause the institution to stop doing more business due to lack of staff, and remove them from more strategic tasks and end up inhibiting the country’s growth. The abundance of technology for property data validation, combined with automated risk analysis, has great potential to solve these challenges.
6 – Fraud and compliance control
Cybercrime and fraud are increasingly common and advanced. We know that this is a complex challenge and that there is no “silver bullet” to solve it, but there is a way to control it, bringing a balance between security and business generation. While many companies still consider security investment a “necessary cost,” seeing this area as a new business enabler seems to make more sense. Investing in comprehensive technologies that support business journeys from customer acquisition to real-time processing of transactions and purchases, mitigating risks of financial, operational and credibility damage is a matter of survival in the high competition scenario in which we live. The customer’s famous “digital identity” associated with network-effect behavior technologies are able to control risks, prevent fraud and money laundering, expanding business.
Definitely, the year 2023 presents several challenges so that the “challengers” of the industry can prove their value propositions and generate profitable business. On the other hand, the incumbents, with value propositions already validated, will have to adapt their structures and strategies seeking greater efficiency and control of expenses. The fact is that technology continues to play an extremely relevant role for both in its challenges, so having specialized business partners and comprehensive and mature solutions can be a differential to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
*By Flávio Gaspar