Highlights from FinovateSpring 2021

FinovateSpring 2021 brought together 1,100+ industry leaders from FinTech and financial services to discuss the future of technology in the space. The pandemic, which forced many banks and other financial institutions to shift gears, accelerated many digital trends that were already occurring, such as automation, investing in carbon neutral technologies, security, cryptocurrency, and others.

Here’s a look at some highlights from the conference, including a deep dive into Quantum Metric’s roundtable, “Supercharge Your Digital Transformation.” 

Highlights from Finovate 2021

The opening session on digital transformation, led by Accenture’s Pascal Hoffmann, focused on 4 pillars: People & Culture (most important), Structure, Process, and Tech & data. The bottom line? Financial services institutions need to invest in technology that empowers people and helps to build a robust company culture. Technology alone can’t solve problems. 

Jermey Balkin, Head of FinTech & Innovation at J.P Morgan, and Louise Beaumont, Chair Open Finance & Payments Working Group at TechUK, discussed how startups are not competition but potential partners for retail banks. According to Beaumont, startups’ cutting edge technology is addressing retail banking problems that are “as old as the hills.”

Jody Bhagat, President of Americas Personetics, discussed how “intelligence, when propagated in the right way, can lead to a much more effective blended experience.” Banks that leverage data analytics to anticipate customers’ needs (even before they reach out) can deliver a superior customer experience. This makes it easier for clients to accomplish complex tasks, such as applying for a home loan. 

The conference also explored the sudden popularity of terms such as “payments orchestration,” which describes the different ways in which money is moved around. Mobile payments, no-code and low-code tools, B2B integrations, and other payment orchestration platforms are essential for delivering standout customer experiences, according to Carolyn Criscitiello, Head of Consumer and Business Banking Payments at Santander Bank.

Panelists explored other hot topics in the space as well, such as the rise of SPACs, the current venture capital ecosystem, and the boom in loan & originations tech. 

Supercharge Your Digital Transformation 

Michael Hanson, RVP of Banking and Financial Services at Quantum Metric, joined his colleagues, Jake Canaan, Sales Engineering Manager, and Trevor Pyle, Director of Product Marketing, to discuss how digital transformation is about more than just technology. 

Key takeaways from the conversation include:

• how to take digital organizations from siloed technology operators, especially ones weighed down by legacy technology, to real-time collaboration hubs
• why cross-team alignment around a single view of the customer is a core operating principle
• and how agile is about more than just releasing fast–it’s about learning fast as well

The round table raised questions of how teams should optimize digital channels such as traditional websites, virtual tellers, kiosks, ATMs, and especially native apps.

According to Canaan, native applications have been a mystery for people without an engineering background. Platforms like Quantum Metric have been helping teams to demystify native app analytics by providing high levels of visibility into the customer data that matters. 

Check out our retail banking product tour to learn more.