Outside Covid, polarizing elections, economic collapse, and civil war, 2020 was mostly a good year. Now the New Year is with us, at last.
This has always been a period of reflection and planning, that part of each year where you promise yourself to lose weight and become more productive. This not only applies to you and me as humans but also to corporations and companies across the board.
The New Year Resolutions
Each New Year, more often than not, companies and their executives sit around a table, plan, and reflect on the shortcomings and successes for that past year. For the rest of us, we sit around a table to eat like the apocalypse is upon us.
Yes, this is where the plans for the new projects are laid. For now, let’s just call them resolutions.
A common misconception is that these resolutions and projects are always high budget and complex. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They vary from simple low budget goals to complex, technical, and long term projects. These include:
1. Embracing Mobile Digital Finance
Pundits and finance industry experts are floating the possibility of mobile transactions replacing credit cards, a discussion that has been ongoing for years now.
The growth of mobile transactions is set to continue in 2021 and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Small financial companies should consider acquiring the various software capabilities to grow their mobile transaction as the year progresses.
2. Enhancing Remote Working Platform
In 2020, most financial companies had to embrace work-from-home platforms as an emergency measure (#SocialDistancing). For many companies, this switch was rushed, unplanned, and unmitigated, making it difficult for them to reap the benefits of remote working.
On the other hand, a new year gives small financial companies the chance to embrace remote working in a planned and regulated fashion while learning from last year’s mistakes.
In 2021, small financial companies should make acquiring remote software systems and ensuring their existing software systems are remote-work compatible a priority. Coinbase, a cryptocurrency platform, plans to have its employees work from home indefinitely.
3. Building Infrastructure and Foundations For 5G
5G is not only a friend, but one with benefits for your business. To start with, 5G comes with low latency and a gateway to the internet of things.
Though the timelines on when 5G will go mainstream keep flip-flopping, small financial companies can stay prepared by building the necessary infrastructure in terms of software, hardware, and human resources in preparation for 5G.
5G is not a matter of “if”, but “when” - and in 2021 financial companies can stay prepared by creating foundations for the integration of their software into smart devices, wearables, and e-commerce platforms.
4. Setting Up For CDP
By now, most small financial firms have embraced CRM systems and their subsequent automation. However, a customer relationship management system is not enough for a financial company that deals with a high volume of siloed data from different sources.
One project small financial companies can undertake in 2021 is to embrace Customer Data Platforms (CDP). A CDP enables a financial company to create a single point of truth for customer data.
A CDP enables a financial company to take all disparate data points and attributes for a persistent, unified customer database and make it accessible to other systems for analysis. This improves efficiency, cuts costs, and leads to a more reliable data platform.
5. Embracing Privacy and Confidential Computing
Apart from that one employee always playing Minecraft online behind their desks, financial companies have always steered clear of cloud computing. This is despite all the benefits that cloud computing brings to a financial company.
However, with the advent of privacy and confidential computing, the cloud can become a possibility for financial companies. Confidential computing encrypts not only the data itself, but the entire computer system and architecture, creating more layers of safety and encryption.
Bank of America has undertaken confidential computing to protect its data at rest, in transit, and most importantly at use, something other financial companies should look into.
6. Embracing Headless Technology
The future of banking is headless. Before the pitchforks become overjoyed, it has nothing to do with beheading bankers or eating the rich.
Small financial companies have to begin embracing headless technology if they want to be a part of that future. Headless technology breaks from the front-end back-end interface most financial companies have been using to offer a more convenient and versatile way for consumers to access financial services.
In 2021, financial companies should start building infrastructure and tweaking their software for integration into RESTful APIs and headless technology.
A good example is Bloom Credit, a fintech company that uses Headless technology to offer an API to the three major national credit bureaus in the USA.
7. Embracing Platform as a Service
The software as a service revolution is now knocking at the door of the financial services industry. Platform as a Service can offer several small financial companies leverage and competitive advantage to compete with established financial service providers.
Small financial companies seeking a cost-effective and efficient means to expand in 2021 should consider adding a PaaS in their business strategy and Plan.
8. Embracing Cryptocurrencies And Blockchains
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology has a lot to offer a small finance company. That’s why small financial companies should prioritize adjusting their software systems, building foundations to and embracing blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
They can embrace blockchains as a security measure, blockchains for increased speed, and blockchains as a currency; the possibilities are endless.
9. Embracing Automation
Cost-cutting is necessary for the growth and development of any small business, financial companies included. It’s a diet, where businesses cut costs, make gains, and stay lean.
Unlike other eras, the 21st century offers a myriad of opportunities for automation that can go a long way in helping small financial companies to remain competitive, increase margins, and cut costs.
In 2021, financial companies should consider making the automation of all irrelevant, redundant, and repetitive tasks a priority and concentrating their resources on productive and rewarding tasks.
10. Embrace Intelligence In Their Customer Engagement
Customer engagement has become smarter over the past few decades. And yes, answering machines and human call centers will forever be missed. Surprisingly, financial companies are usually last in line when it comes to embracing smart and intelligent customer management.
In 2021, small financial companies should prioritize embracing smart customer engagement. This is through integrating natural language processing into their software systems and the introduction of Chatbots into their websites and applications.
Who We Are
At Restless Labs we have spent a significant part of the past decades offering digital consulting services to financial companies, and others - with a specialization in custom software solutions and Salesforce implementations.
For more information about how we can help you, contact us today and discover what awesome things we can build together.
