Farhan Ahmad, the CEO of PayNet, recently spoke at Money20/20 Asia in Bangkok about the future of payments and the need for a strategic framework to deal with bots as customers. With bots becoming the new target market for financial services organisations, there is a need to understand what bots are interested in when selecting a financial services provider. Bots are indifferent to traditional marketing tactics and branding, focusing instead on APIs for accessing services.
Bots are more interested in the grade of service, quality of services, API availability, response times, accuracy of data, security, and privacy when choosing a financial services provider. Due to their ability to search through data and process transactions at a faster rate than humans, financial services companies are now developing new APIs to cater to bot preferences. Bots are also replacing frontline employees in delivering financial advisory services, requiring the use of ‘explainable AI’ and operating within a regulatory framework to prioritize customer interests.
Matt Harris of Bain Capital Ventures highlights the implications of bots in retail financial services, where bots can provide customers with personalized recommendations that could potentially lead to switching financial providers for better rates and lower fees. Financial institutions need to develop strategies to respond to this threat to their profit pools. Farhan Ahmad recommends seeking advice from science fiction writers for long-term strategies rather than consultants, emphasizing the importance of anticipating future trends and developments in the industry.
In line with this, renowned science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s vision of a future with full unemployment, where robots take care of tasks while humans focus on leisure activities, resonates with the changing landscape of financial services. As bots continue to play a significant role in customer interactions and decision-making, financial institutions must adapt their strategies to meet the evolving needs of this new customer base. With the rise of AI-powered bots in financial services, the industry is set for significant transformations that will shape the future of payments and customer engagement.
