Four Key Areas of Innovation That You Cannot Do Without

...and Other Lessons From Finovate Fall 2021

This week was a big event for New York City. New Yorkers saw the return Broadway theater and Bankers saw the return of one of the biggest events and banking that was live – Finovate Fall 2021. While it has been sometime since we had a live bank technology conference and networking event, it was clear that just like New York City, the city that never sleeps, fintech innovation did not sleep during the pandemic as well. I want to cover four key areas of innovation that I saw that you need to be aware of as you put your technology strategies together.

The need for Financial Well Being solutions has never been greater. 

Let’s just be honest, this last year has been interesting to say the least when you look at the macro and micro economies, we all participate in. Having gone through one of the most challenging years in terms of economics, politics, and health  the latest reports from U.S. Government show that poverty has dropped to record lows, but only with an unprecedented amount of government assistance that has lifted tens of millions out of poverty. Financial institutions look at those consumers and continue to have concerns about financial literacy, engagement, and well-being. Several solutions such as Dreams were presented that continued to focus on the bank customer – and you should also consider how the last year has impacted your customers as well.

You cannot spell “Happiness” in banking without API (yes that is a stretch, but you get the point).

API integration was key to most of the innovations that were demonstrated at Finovate. Now every bank should be aware that having an API is not the golden ticket to automagical integrations, but with out it your solutions will never get there. It was very refreshing to hear that most of the tops innovators, like Array also thought about how they can communicate in the fintech ecosystem.

Intelligent Automation is way better than just Automation.

There are so many ways that technology can automate a process, but you need to view that the automation is smart and improving the user and borrower experience, not just making it happen or even happen faster (which is not always better). A perfect example of where smart automation can kick in is the use cases that Ocrolus demonstrated – taking OCR and making it work smarter.

Increase Customer Engagement – the way the customer wants to be engaged.

I must admit, I struggled with LongGame’s demo at first, but when I got home to my kids, I totally see how their attempt to increase engagement with banks via gamification will work. Engaging with a customer means how do they want to interact with your bank, not just how your bankers think it should be - because they may be terribly wrong.

So just a couple of key trends that I saw, but really the best and on-going trend was the constant networking that was taking place. I enjoyed seeing and having those interactions with prospects, clients, partners, and future business partners all in one forum. Thanks again Finovate and NYC for a great time – I would be back in a New York minute!

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Author Bio

With more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Mike Horrocks possesses a unique and extensive blend of financial expertise, technology skills, process redesign abilities and solution management experience. Horrocks’ background enables him to create go-to-market strategies for new solutions, help clients convert strategies into revenue generating initiatives and forecast market direction.

As the Vice-President of Product Management at Baker Hill, Horrocks’ responsibilities include the identification and development of new market opportunities in the business of lending, risk management, and analytics for financial institutions. Mike holds a MBA both in International Finance and Venture Technology Management from Indiana University and a B.S in International Finance from Brigham Young University.

Before joining Baker Hill, he held executive positions within several other organizations, including Experian, Profit Technologies, SAIC, Broadway and Seymour (FIS), Zions First National Bank and Zions Data Corporation.

Horrocks is a member of many associations including the Risk Management Association and Bankers Without Borders. In his free time, he enjoys traveling internationally with his wife and five children.