The future of finance was on show at the Singapore Fintech Festival, with powerful examples of AI, machine learning and data science tools for boosting workflow efficiency or CX. To be fully effective, however, fintech needs quality data.
- The benefits of fintech in financial services include the automation of workflows, improved links between advisors and clients, and enhanced customer experience.
- Fintech needs quality data, without which even the most sophisticated AI and machine learning tools will be unable deliver optimal results.
- Fintech tools harnessing AI and machine learning in financial services include Refinitiv’s Workspace for Wealth Advisors and MarketPsych Indices.
At the recent Singapore Fintech Festival, delegates were given powerful insight into the four major underlying themes driving the financial ecosystem in 2019 and beyond.
We’ve already heard how the event — the biggest of its kind in the world — addressed the use of fintech tools for sustainable business.
Now we consider fintech’s role in the future of finance, including its benefits for the automation of workflows, links between advisors and clients, and enhanced customer experience.
Underlying all these capabilities is the understanding that fintech needs quality data, with both structured and unstructured formats necessary to secure the full benefits.
Watch: What excites you about the future of finance?
Examples of fintech tools
It’s first worth considering some of the ways that fintech tools have already deployed AI and machine learning to benefit the financial services industry.
Their popularity has been further proof that while digitalization and automation are viewed as disruptors, there is growing recognition of their merits among investors, investment advisors, and the industry as a whole.
In fact, according to Refinitiv’s Future of Trading report, there is broad consensus that technology is helping create more efficient financial markets.
Some of the fintech tools from Refinitiv include:
- Refinitiv Workspace for Wealth Advisors, a customizable platform that integrates data from clients, and Refinitiv and third-party content to provide trusted news and insights on demand to streamline workflows, improve productivity, and deepen client engagement.
- MarketPsych Indices analyze news and social media in real time to provide actionable insights, including on qualitative factors such as perceptions about earnings, interest rate forecasts, and sentiment around market-moving topics.
- Qual-ID uses optical character recognition to deliver risk-screening solutions such as identity verification and proofing legal documents.
Watch: Where do you see AI having the biggest impact?
Fintech needs quality data
To ensure such tools are effective, access to quality data is of paramount importance.
Indeed, data quality is the biggest barrier to the adoption and deployment of machine learning, according to Refinitiv’s inaugural Machine Learning Survey.
Without reliable data, even the most sophisticated AI and machine learning tools struggle to deliver optimal results. This is where cloud technology comes in to play, with its ability to provide access to data in a secure, efficient, and cost-effective manner.
Refinitiv’s Elektron provides access to a wide range of clean, tagged and standardized data and alternative datasets, as well as analytics solutions involving a variety of asset classes.
This information is delivered through several distribution platforms to help clients easily identify linkages, relationships and connections, and discover new opportunities.
Creating business opportunities
Refinitiv data is also available on the cloud in a way that it can be fully aligned with clients’ cloud strategies. This provides several advantages, such as faster access, reduced cost and the ability to support diverse workflows and needs of markets across geographies and time zones.
In recognition of the fact that developers are critical value generators in the digital economy, the Refinitiv Developer Community provides the tools, documentation, sample code, learning materials and troubleshooting forums to help them build the products and solutions that ultimately serve our clients.
It’s also increasingly clear that, going forward, an AI-enabled strategy will be the main differentiator for companies as they look for solutions to challenges around risk and alpha generation.
To serve this need, data science teams at Refinitiv Labs around the world develop solutions that tackle present-day challenges, pre-empt future ones and create fresh business opportunities.
The positive power of fintech
Being tech-ready with access to the right data will help companies make the most of opportunities created by a rapidly transforming financial services sector, grow in a sustainable manner and help build a prosperous and inclusive society.
We are in an era where all industries are being bombarded with more data and information than ever before. The challenge is being able to separate the signal from the noise, to allow you to grow your business and provide the best service to your clients. Being tech-ready with access to the right data will help companies make the most of the opportunities created by a rapidly transforming financial services sector.
