A story from outside the credit union/payments industry captured our attention this week. Wired editor (and THINK 18 alum) Nick Thompson’s interview with Mario Schlosser, cofounder of Oscar Health, offers a fascinating glimpse into a startup that is realizing the digital potential in a digitally-backward industry: health insurance. Oscar’s goal is “to do to health care what Uber did to the taxi industry: use smart digital technology to make everything faster and easier for customers.”
We spend a lot of time thinking about what digital transformation means for credit unions; what we often fail to grasp is the fact that the digital future is happening now, with or without us. It’s no longer impossible to imagine what a digitally-realized organization looks like. You can read all about it – and, increasingly, test the waters yourself.
Digital disruption is everywhere. It’s fueling the nearly $3 billion market for subscription-based services, activating AI-driven customer service through the IoT devices, and prompting new thinking around regulation and cybersecurity. Disruption could, as one of our must-read stories this week suggests, destroy traditional banking as we know it. But it can also reinvent financial services, creating opportunity as it goes.
Here are 5 stories that highlight just how fast the age of digital disruption is moving:
Two Credit Unions Try Alexa as a Customer Service Rep
Canadian credit unions Conexus Credit Union and Innovation Credit Union are testing a new system that allows members to do their banking through Amazon’s Alexa. “Essentially, the idea is to make Alexa a customer service representative, allowing end users to tell the AI platform to make payments, transfer money, and perform other banking transactions, all via voice command,” the article says. “And because Alexa has a voice recognition capability, the system can ensure that it’s an authorized user requesting these transactions.”
Mobile Merchant Transactions Help Drive Financial Inclusion
A new study from Juniper Research forecasts that mobile merchant transactions by unbanked individuals will grow from 1.8 billion per year in 2018 to 3.8 billion by 2023, making mobile merchant transactions a significant factor in financial inclusion. The Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets research report identifies Kenya and India as core incubator markets for mobile merchant services.
AI Could Disrupt Traditional Banking as We Know It
“Ongoing developments in artificial intelligence have the potential to significantly change the way back offices operate and the experiences consumers receive from financial institutions,” writes Financial Brand columnist Jim Marous. “More importantly, these new technologies could disrupt how banks and credit unions attract and retain their customers, create new business models and present regulatory issues. Translation: there’s no time like the present to begin integrating AI at your credit union.
How Can Regulators Promote Innovation While Protecting Consumers?
Financial institutions aren’t the only ones struggling to manage new relationships with fintech partners. Regulators are debating how to encourage fintech innovation while simultaneously protecting consumer interests (think of the relative value/threat of ATMs and mortgage-backed securities). The Pew Organization looks at regulatory approaches from around the globe and asks which ones might strike the right balance in today’s ever-evolving technology climate.
Today in Data: Creating and Securing the Next Generation of Customer Touchpoints
Consumers are already enjoying constant connectivity, and have created a $2.9 billion market for eCommerce subscriptions alone. But every new connected touchpoint opens the door to security vulnerabilities, making cybersecurity one of the most urgent issues of the day.
Are you ready to join the digital disruption revolution? Join us for a full day of insights on the strategies, tactics and tools you’ll need to digitally transform your credit union at a CO-OP Roadshow, coming to a city near you this summer and fall.
The original article 5 Must-Reads: Digital Disruption Won’t Wait for You can be found on Insight Vault.
