Technologies like Cloud, AI and analytics are enabling financial institutions to deliver more personalized services, work more efficiently, improve customer outcomes and increase customer engagement.
Seamless Banking Services Require Edge-to-Cloud Integration
The future of corporate and retail banking is being shaped by technology.
Customers now expect more services to be available digitally and through self-service. In branches, many customers are choosing to skip the queue for their daily transactions and account maintenance, making banking more digital than ever.
At the same time, corporate and retail banks are unlocking insights and competitive advantages through analytics, big data, and AI. These technologies help banks find ways to increase profits, reduce risk, and improve the customer experience, both online and in-branch. Connected devices in branches help banks better understand customer behavior and provide more personalized offers. This creates a seamless experience focused on customer needs, no matter how they interact with the bank.
To achieve this, a range of technologies are being deployed, from edge computing solutions in branches to high-performance data center environments. Let’s look at some of the key technologies that are shaping the future of banking.
The Edge: towards a connected agency
Professional putting the card
Digital technology is essential to ensure branch banking services remain competent, resilient to cyber threats, competitive and profitable.
In branches, technologies such as dynamic digital signage and self-service kiosks use cloud-based analytics and AI technologies to streamline customer visits and deliver more personalized experiences.
How do we get there? With the Intelligent Edge, analytical insights are no longer limited to the data center.
New IoT (Internet of Things) technologies are bringing analytics and AI into branches and enabling physical locations to act more like online channels. For example, banks can use IP cameras and AI-enabled vision technology to measure teller wait times at different times of the day. This information can help branch managers make more informed staffing decisions.
Combined with cloud resources and AI technologies, self-service kiosks with opt-in facial recognition can identify if an unauthorized user is trying to access an account, block the transaction, and capture images of the thief. Digital billboards with vision capabilities can “see” who is viewing the screen and change messages based on the audience.
It’s also a great way to share messages while customers wait for an advisor or manager. Digital signage near the entrance or in a branch lobby is ideal for high-level brand messaging that reassures customers that the bank or credit union is a trusted partner for their financial goals. As customers move through transactional spaces, digital signage can promote banking products and services. Built-in video analytics can display personalized content based on audience demographics.
However, using multiple technologies in real time requires financial organizations to process large volumes of data. It also presents a difficult migration to other channels such as traditional ATMs. Flexible and open edge computing solutions will extend existing siloed systems with modern capabilities, facilitating the data analytics that banks need to gain rapid and actionable insights. Better visibility and the influx of data at the edge will enable banks to make better decisions on everything from loan offerings to staff recruitment.
Biometric security can help financial institutions run their daily operations while improving customer authenticity and experience.
Efficient and secure IT management for corporate and retail banks
In the banking industry, thin clients ensure that confidential data and information are secure and that the bank complies with regulatory standards. Thin client computing also helps reduce operating costs through simplified IT management and significantly reduces security risks. In the thin client model, all critical data is stored in centralized data center environments, which helps protect access while streamlining all IT management operations.
Cloud and data center: new possibilities for banks
Banks are also using cloud technology to improve their customer experience and offer new capabilities.
Cloud Banking IT: Opportunities and Challenges
Historically, banks have lagged in adopting cloud technologies due to the highly regulated nature of the industry and the specific requirements associated with banking services.
In pursuit of their digital goals, corporate and retail banks face challenges in adopting cloud computing . Cloud banking IT strategies, including hybrid and multicloud approaches , must balance cost, performance, complex regulatory guidelines, and strong cybersecurity measures.
In recent years, new innovations have helped address compliance challenges in the industry and opened up new avenues for banks to better serve their customers.
A successful banking cloud IT strategy requires careful selection of workloads moving to the cloud. Many banks use risk assessment to understand the benefits, drawbacks, and potential pitfalls of a migration.
The cloud also plays a critical role in supporting modern development frameworks such as DevOps and DevSecOps that banks and financial institutions use to build software applications. Cloud resources help them accelerate the testing and validation of new applications, enabling new services and customer offerings to come to market faster. In these models, confidential computing enclaves can be applied to secure continuous integration and delivery pipelines that are used to rapidly test and deploy new applications. Intel is working with a broad range of cloud partners —including industry leaders such as Red Hat and VMware —to bring the flexibility, security, and performance required for cloud banking deployments.
As corporate and retail banks continue to innovate and unlock new possibilities, Intel is committed to delivering the performance, flexibility, and security their branches and data centers need. With AI, analytics, cloud, and more, we help banks drive breakthroughs, protect operations, and increase business outcomes as they build the future of finance.