Bots!

posted by Collin Canright on February 13, 2017 - 9:14am

Chatbots in banking, the banks that do APIs well, and the rise of open banking. This week's FinTech links provide a look at the shifts in technology that can move banks away from consumers and provide consumers a way to gain greater control over their banking experience.

And then there's the genuine coin of the realm, in the form of paper money. National Public Radio reports that 80 percent of U.S. currency circulates in hundred dollar bills—"Franklins"—but nobody really knows where they are.

Given that people tend to carry less cash these days, it's likely that the high-dollar bills fuel trade in illegal goods and keep transactions off the tax books. Experiments in India, Europe, and Singapore on eliminating large notes to fight crime may be instructive.

As it happens, the U.S. c-note celebrates Benjamin Franklin, the most ardent supporter of paper currency in early America, a story told in a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia history.

Is the botification of banking a good thing?
Artificial intelligence is the hot topic of the tech world, but will it actually offer a better consumer experience? Ron Shevlin poses this question in a post for Gonzobanker, citing the overuse of bots for too many interactions and banks’ lack of understanding how to best use these tools as reasons to slow down the AI rush.

What we learned designing a chatbot for banking
When designing the online banking system called K2 Bank, the developers behind the prototype told Chatbots Magazine that they learned conversational UIs simplify the user experience, shortcuts are needed for conversational UIs, and users need to feel that they’re in charge of the system.

Enhancing user experience
Though there has been a lot of work done on online banking channels, they’ve still got to make more progress in order to meet consumer expectations, a Celent report finds. “Even though larger corporates increasingly rely on “unattended” or machine-to-machine integration, the attended channels require continual investment and ideally, are part of an overall digital strategy for the corporate bank,” Celent senior analyst Susan Feinberg tells Treasury Today.

11 banks and FinTechs doing APIs better than you
Capital One, Braintree, Stripe, and TransferWise are all tapping into the power of APIs to provide a better experience to their customers. 11FS, summarizing a U.K. Competition and Markets Authority report, outlines how banks can take their cue from other banks and FinTech firms that are leading the way in leveraging their trust and seamless customer experiences to create a competitive edge.

Open banking revolution moves closer
The Competition and Markets Authority announced a series of reforms to make banks work harder for their customers and help them take more control of their banking using new, cutting-edge services, such as limits on overdraft charges, standardized business account opening processes, and publishing service-quality statistics.

UBS wealth chief on FinTech: 'We are beyond fighting'
Now that FinTech firms have figured out how difficult it is to scale independently, there’s more of an incentive to partner with industry incumbents. And banks are also willing to work with FinTech startups to improve their own products. "The key takeaway is that we as incumbents, we have long moved on to a full collaboration model,” UBS Wealth Management COO Dirk Klee told Business Insider.

Digital disruption - revisited
An updated Citi report examines the FinTech revolution in the West, including the U.S. pivot towards InsurTech, the U.S. large venture capital rounds in 2016 in healthcare insurance and the impact of big data on the insurance sector. Peer-to-peer lending hasn’t gone away in the U.S., but Europe is behind in terms of startups and venture capital investing.

What can India teach us about abolishing high-value currency?
Getting rid of India’s highest-value rupee notes last November to rein in tax-evaders holding big bills caused a big shakeup, NPR reports. But in truth, it’s not that radical. From countries in the European Union to Singapore, weeding out big bills has been a tactic for slowing the cash flow of criminal activities.

THE BLOCKCHAIN WATCH

Getting beyond the blockchain hype
Missed the Blockchain Opportunity Summit in New York City? Catch the highlights from the blockchain aficionados discussing the potential applications of blockchain for healthcare, music, real estate and other sectors here.