Select Thought Leadership Articles

Have we really done well enough?

Who do we truly serve? For whom are we innovating, and why? And can we truly bank on the industry to change? Can morals and money co-exist? (via The Fintech Magazine Issue 25, Page 78-79)

So you think inclusion is done?

To truly gauge the success of fintech within the financial services business model, we have to move the discussion of financial inclusion beyond access. Are the individuals, businesses, and communities that the industry serves better off and more connected? Is banking better able to deliver the basics of our global monetary system and empower underrepresented economies to become part of an increasingly digital and global future? (via The Fintech Power 50)

Making the invisible visible: Doing more with data

How can you build business resilience and adapt in a rapidly changing market? In a world where we are immersed in an enormous amount of data, how do we decipher the insights from the bits and bytes? What is the data telling us about people, process, and technology? And most importantly, the customers that we serve? (via MIT Tech Review)

The connected world: Delivering the best-in-class customer experience of tomorrow and beyond

While few organizations would argue the importance of customer experience: many still have trouble delivering what is needed to meet the evolving customer demands and compete effectively in today’s world. Beyond having a customer-centric vision and the aspiration to do what is right: companies must be willing to undertake a more holistic approach to customer experience. (via MIT Tech Review)

A transformational journey: Artificial intelligence in financial services

New technologies hold promise for both improving the relationship between financial services institutions and their customers and strengthening the financial outcomes for larger swathes of our society if this is done responsibly. Despite the heightened interests, however, there still exists a significant gap between expectation and reality. (via Journal of Digital Banking)

Rapidly aging populations need financial security, not just caregivers

Unprecedented demographic shift necessitates that we rethink our approach to money, work and life. Competing demands threaten to divide our fragmented society, where generational conflicts are beginning to strain our economic and social stability. (via Nikkei Asia Review)

When Algorithms Decide Whose Voices Will Be Heard

As we continue the journey of technology evolution, we must ensure that we are not sacrificing fairness and transparency in the name of efficiency gains. We must ensure that we address our technologies’ blind spots, that inequality is not exacerbated, and that history does not repeat itself. (via Harvard Business Review)

When AI Becomes a Part of Our Daily Lives

What might happen if AI becomes more contextually aware and empathetic? Imagine that one day this ambient technology knows us so well that it can act as our personal CFO and continuously help us get to the best financial outcomes over time, based on its knowledge of our household, our life choices, our health, and our longevity. Will we trust it enough to make decisions for us automatically? (via Harvard Business Review)

A voyage of optimism from the city of angels to mountains of clouds

Great ideas are powerful only if opportunities are available to develop them – just like the seeds of a plant that need sunlight, nutrients, and water to grow. While talent is equally distributed, opportunities are not.

How might we work together to find a way to close the gaps that many still face, to inspire positive change in each of our communities, and to ensure that we can all aspire to a brighter future for the entirety of humanity? (via FinTech Futures)

Digital Transformation in Banking & the Need for Inclusivity in Design

The path to inclusivity is intentional and thoughtful, one through which will serve as our guidebook to address the needs of not just our own community but far beyond. As the society progresses with digital transformation, we must seek to include the invisibles of the society – the immigrants, the aged, the women, and the poor. It is by designing through their eyes and through their voices that we can meet the imperative of being truly inclusive. If we care to look deeper, we might have more in common than we realize. (via Smart Payments)

Financial services, like other transformative industries, must provide added forms of value for all members of the society. To become true advocates, financial services firms must build new pathways to improve consumers’ financial security through an integrated set of tools, fair access to credit, and financial education. Rapid technological advances have only begun creating their impact on humanity. Financial institutions act as both gatekeepers and enablers and have a critical role to play. Read our piece “The Era of Connectedness” in the Journal of Digital Banking.