Page 41 - Banking Finance May 2019 N
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ARTICLE

             complete and secure transaction records, updated and  large impact on the structure of trade finance or
             verified by users, removing the need for a central  derivatives trading, especially more bespoke contracts,
             authority. These technologies allow for direct peer-to-  and could also be integrated into Robo-advice wealth
             peer transactions, which might offer benefits, in terms  management services.
             of efficiency and security, over existing technological
             solutions. The major benefits of this technology are  Y E-Aggregators
             reduced cost; faster settlement time; reduction in  E-Aggregators provide internet-based venues for retail
             counterparty risk; reduced need for third party     customers to compare the prices and features of a
             intermediation; reduced collateral demand and latency;  range of financial (and non-financial) products such as
             better fraud prevention; greater resiliency; simplification  standardized insurance, mortgages, and deposit
             of reporting, data collection, and systemic risk    account products. They can also provide services that
             monitoring; increased interconnectedness; and privacy.  allow users to aggregate and analyse their data on their
             One of the best-known applications of Blockchain    payment patterns, across separate accounts and
             technology at the present time is bitcoin.          products. E-Aggregators also provide an easy way to
                                                                 switch between providers and may become a major
         Y Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending:                           distributor for a variety of financial products (e.g.
             Peer-to-peer (P2P) lenders connect lenders and      PolicyBazzar, Bankbazzar, Paisabazzar, lendingkart,
             borrowers. The technology is designed to increase the  bestloandeal etc.)
             efficiency and reduce the time involved in access to
             credit. While P2P lending originally involved direct  Y Cloud computing
             matching of individual lenders and borrowers on a one-  Cloud-based IT services can deliver internet-based
             to-one basis, it has evolved into a form of marketplace  access to a shared pool of Computing resources that can
             lending where institutional and high net worth individual  be quickly and easily deployed. Infrastructure, Platform,
             investors lend into a pool that borrowers can access.  Service and Mobile backend as a service is offered under
             The principal benefit of P2P lending for borrowers is the  cloud based services. The use of these services is an
             fast and convenient access to funding, while for investors  important enabler for new entrants to the financial
             it is the potential for high returns.               services arena to set up quickly and with low start-up
                                                                 cost, with easy options to expand their capability as the
         Y Smart contracts                                       firm grows.
             Smart contracts are computer protocols that can self-
             execute, self-enforce, self-verify and self-constrain the  Y Wearables
             performance of a contract. Development of smart     Wearable, such as smart watches are poised to become
             contracts in relation to financial services could have a  the future of the retail banking experience. Overall,
                                                                 consumer behavior and smart device trends are steering
                                                                 banking technology advances in the direction of
                                                                 convenience. An increasing number of remote
                                                                 technologies will allow customers to interact with the
                                                                 bank right from the palm of a hand and from email inbox
                                                                 to visiting an actual branch; customer can expect to
                                                                 encounter a whole new customer experience, perhaps
                                                                 even sooner than thinking.  According to Samsung
                                                                 Insights, one example is that banks could use Bluetooth
                                                                 beacons to push personal greetings to customers' smart
                                                                 watches when they enter a banking location.

                                                              Y Robo advice
                                                                 "Robo-advice" is the provision of financial advice by
                                                                 automated, money management providers, thereby


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