AI in banking

AI in banking now geared for a takeoff

by | Aug 3, 2020 | Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence

Having tasted initial successes with chatbots and other virtual assistants, Indian banks are now geared to get bolder with AI.
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Digital disruption is impacting every industry and transforming the ways of working. The traditional models are slowly waning, and trailblazing technologies are emerging. In the age of cloud computing and internet applications, services like telegram and postcards are things of the past. Banking too has endured many changes over time while implementing several new technologies to facilitate faster transactions and on-the-move banking with just a few clicks. AI in banking is taking transformation to a new level.

The unprecedented Covid-19 scenario, which has compelled many to stay at home, has further pushed the banks to explore innovative banking solutions and create a differentiation strategy for the convenience of their customers. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most powerful technologies that has been helping the banking sector to drive several of these new-age innovations.

Driven by the benefits of predictive analytics, voice recognition, and advance human learning capabilities, AI technology enables banks to provide a customized experience to their customers, strengthens compliance, and delivers a secure digital payment ecosystem across a plethora of channels. It helps manage an enormous amount of data at a rapid speed, and empowers them to comprehend detailed insights from it, providing a better understanding of their customers and behaviors.

Globally, tools such as conversational chatbots, virtual security assistants, fraud detection, and face recognition are being widely used to drive meaningful customer engagement. If we look at the Indian market scenario, banks are waking up to the benefits of AI tools for both back-office and customer interfacing functions.

Let’s look at the AI journeys of some of the leading banks.

HDFC Bank

In 2017, India’s leading private-sector bank deployed an AI-based conversational chatbot called Electronic Virtual Assistant (EVA). In less than three years of its deployment, EVA, designed by Bengaluru-based Senseforth AI Research has claimed to have helped HDFC respond to over 5 million customer queries with more than 85% accuracy. The tool uses natural language processing and is now also available on the Google Assistant platform. It provides the relevant answers to users by scanning thousands of HDFC website sources in just a few seconds.

Chatbots like EVA help fetch relevant information very easily without letting users navigate the entire website or getting into a painstaking effort of waiting on a call. In addition to EVA, the bank has also deployed several AI-enabled tools in risk management, credit scoring, employee engagement, and onboarding in the last few years. It uses OnChat, which works on Facebook, to help with all kind of bill-payments. HDFC is also testing various in-store robotic applications.

State Bank of India

Despite being a public-sector bank, SBI is known to be aggressive in terms of leveraging the latest technologies. The company’s banking dashboards are considered to be one of the best in the industry. In terms of AI-enabled solutions, the bank’s facial recognition solution, developed by Chapdex, the winning team from its first hackathon Code for Bank, helps it analyze and understand the feedback of its customers through their facial expressions. The solution is installed in the branch cameras and collects impressions of customers to identify if they are delighted from their bank visits or not.

The Fortune Global 500 bank has been also leveraging the benefits of SBI Intelligent Assistant (SIA), an AI-powered chat and voice assistant, to answer the customer queries promptly. Developed by Payjo, a startup based in Silicon Valley and Bengaluru, the solution has helped SBI reduce a considerable amount of operational costs since its launch in 2017. The solution interacts with customers to address queries and tasks related to everyday banking just like a bank representative.

The company has also recently entered into a pact with Microsoft to develop an AI-powered marketplace aimed at helping the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) industry to connect people living with disabilities for upskilling and employment.

Axis Bank

Mumbai-based country’s third-largest bank, Axis Bank, has built two AI solutions that have made life easier for its customers. Its bot, ‘Simply Ask Axis Aha’ aims to bridge the gap between customers and the bank. Users can access the tool through Axis bank mobile app and use a conversational approach to transfer funds, pay bills, recharge, generate banking statements, or enquire about the latest Axis products and services. The bot acts as a conversational assistant to resolve queries of all kinds.

Very recently, Axis has deployed a voice-based conversational bot or automated voice assistant AXAA. The solution operates like a humanoid and claims to deliver far better results than a conventional interactive voice response (IVR) system. According to the company, the solution will assist customers to traverse through the IVR and address their queries and requests, without the need for any human intervention in most cases. Interestingly, the solution can converse in English, Hindi, and Hinglish, and has the potential to address about one lakh customer queries per day.

ICICI Bank

ICICI has been heavily focusing on AI-enabled robotic process automation (RPA) technology for process improvement. The RPA technology enables businesses to automate high-volume, tedious, and time-taking tasks that doesn’t require much human intervention. It has already deployed RPA technology on over 1,200 business processes such as customer onboarding, loan processing, and reconciliation, among others.

The bank also has and AI-powered Chatbot, iPal, that has recently been integrated with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. The solution provides an array of retail banking information such as account details, account balance, transaction queries, and credit card details among others through a simple voice command.

Though still at a nascent stage, and mostly restricted to chatbots, Indian banks are now experimenting with several new AI ideas to transform the traditional banking experience. In the next few years, the role of AI is expected to be evolved significantly. A special focus will be on developing customized solutions for customers and designing software based on cognitive fraud analytics. Punjab National Bank (PNB), for instance, has already deployed AI for reconciliation of accounts and to strengthen its internal audit control mechanisms. A number of banks are likely to use AI to detect suspicious activity. Through real-time behavior profiling, distrustful activities of banking users will be immediately reported and blocked for fraud prevention.

MORE FROM BETTER WORLD

How is digital transformation shaping the new future?

How is digital transformation shaping the new future?

Six months into the pandemic, and we all have seen how critical is the robust connectivity for us to remain relevant and work effectively. As stringent social distancing measures continue to prevail across the country, enterprises are beefing-up their digital transformation strategy to implement solutions that can strengthen their operational efficiency, enable their employees and users to collaborate, and uncap innovation smoothly.

Before the COVID-19 became a pandemic, concepts such as digital transformation were primarily confined to the IT industry. However, a lot has been changed in the last few months, prompting organizations to rethink their digital strategy. Digital transformation is now mainstream and has paved the way for new ways of living across all sectors and industries. Virtual town hall meetings and webinars are no longer considered exclusive. Almost every establishment is now leveraging cloud computing and digital technologies to develop new or alter existing enterprise processes and culture to align with the changing customer requirements.

Technology assisting in the new normal

Enterprises worldwide are innovating their business processes with digital transformation strategies and identifying novel ways of empowering their people and customers to improve business risk resiliency. The healthcare industry, for instance, is pondering the concepts of virtual ICUs with patients being at home and the treatment being managed remotely. There is also a massive rise in tele-consulting. Many senior citizens who had limited or no knowledge about mobile applications are receiving treatment through web-conferencing tools such as Zoom or Meet.

The banking sector has leveraged technologies such as data science, robotics, and automation for convenient virtual customer engagement and secure banking experience. (See: ICICI Prudential extends coverage of conversational AI Ligo and AI in banking now geared for a takeoff)

Similarly, automotive retail barriers will be transformed through augmented reality, video, and other technologies. Consumers may not be needed to visit retail showrooms to do a test drive and purchase an automotive vehicle.

In India, manufacturing is one of the most adversely affected sectors that could not escape the wrath of coronavirus. This is primarily because of their sluggish approach toward the adoption of digital technologies.

From now on, as manufacturers gradually open-up their plants, they would be highly dependent upon digitization and related technologies such as cloud, IoT, automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence for the business revival and growth. Nevertheless, like all organizations, the safety of employees will be of paramount importance, and technology will continue to play a significant role in that aspect.

Technology transformation lighting the way toward a new era

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has catalyzed a new tech revolution. For most global organizations, the stay-at-home mandate likely to remain in place for an unforeseeable future. And hence, there has been a greater acceptance of working remotely across enterprises.

Many technology leaders with whom we interacted recently feel that despite the disruption, the impact would be a lot more positive in the longer run. (See: Sunit Vakharia, Chief Technology Officer, U GRO Capital, and Chandresh Dedhia, Head of Information Technology, Ascent Health)

IT heads are busy evaluating their networks and implementing network monitoring tools and technologies, identity management, data encryption, and governance and compliance solutions to make their systems secure and efficient. These tools can equip IT teams to maintain the overall organizational IT infrastructure for a disbursed remote workforce, and diagnose the problems promptly.

Analytics and AI would continue to play a more significant role in driving enriching experience for employees and customers. The next twelve months will see faster adoption of transformative technologies such as the internet of things (IoT), Blockchain, and robotic process automation (RPA). These technologies will be used to build contactless solutions and strengthen process efficiencies. Customer Organizations will be seen ramping-up their research and development initiatives to kick-start the economy.

Across all sectors, new technological developments and innovations will form the basis of all boardroom discussions. By the time the impact of the pandemic will subside, most of the enterprises would be transitioned into a different era altogether. There will be greater adoption of online ways of functioning. Networks will be transformed, and the connectivity landscape will be strengthened. This will fundamentally change how organizations operate and deliver, ultimately drive unique revenue streams for businesses. Overall, these changes will help us prepare better for a crisis like this in the time to come.

 

Tech Cos take M&A route for digital transformation supremacy

Tech Cos take M&A route for digital transformation supremacy

The sudden escalation of COVID-19 has disrupted the business operations of many enterprises, and businesses have realized that digital transformation is no longer an option; it is now indispensable for survival. In the new normal, where remote working is the norm, IT Services firms see a massive demand to support digital transformation initiatives.

Many traditional enterprises face significant challenges in implementing digital transformation in business. Hence, enterprises and IT services players are being approached by the companies to identify and fix the missing links in their respective digital puzzle.

Over the next three to four quarters, it is anticipated that most businesses will fast-track the deployment of digital technologies to support long-term business continuity, giving IT and Consulting firms an ample market opportunity.

Recent deals to accelerate digital transformation

In a recent development, global technology major HCL Technologies has signed an agreement to buy DWS Limited, a leading Australian IT, Business, and management consulting group, for about $115.8 million to expand its digital capabilities, mainly in Australia and NZ. DWS provides a range of IT services such as digital transformation, IT, commercial enterprise and management consulting services, and information and business analytics.

HCL is hoping to fortify its digital client portfolio in Australia and New Zealand with this acquisition.

The deal has once again demonstrated the growing trend of many IT majors firming up their digital transformation capabilities through collaboration or the merger and acquisition (M&A) route in recent times.

Earlier this month, Accenture announced the acquisition of Germany based technology consultancy SALT Solutions. IT Services major Infosys, too, subscribed to an agreement to purchase enterprise service management consultancy, GuideVision, for 30 million euros. (See: Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities). In July this year, global information technology, consulting, and business process services major, Wipro had also signed a deal to buy 4C, a leading Salesforce partner in Europe and the Middle East. (See: Wipro’s 4C buy to firm up its European presence). Simultaneously, we also had EY and IBM announcing their multi-year deal to help organizations accelerate their digital transformation goals.

Why M&A is the best bet?

Technology has enabled the customers to dictate terms even in a pandemic situation. And that’s what compels organizations’ to invest in new-age technologies such as cloud, data analytics, internet of things (IoT), robotic process automation (RPA), cloud-based workflow solutions, among others.

While there is a considerable demand for a comprehensive digital ecosystem, it is also true that IT Services behemoths don’t own all the capabilities to support digital transformation in business. They do not have time either to train themselves and support diverse IT frameworks in a cutthroat marketplace. To win market share in new geographic locations, improve competencies, and promptly add new offerings, M&A and strategic collaboration seem to be the most favored route.

By strategically acquiring relevant players, IT Majors can offer a range of new and specialized digital transformation services that can strengthen network performance, security standards, cloud methodology of their clients. Through acquisition and merger, solution providers can be in a lot better condition to aid their customers to harness the power of new-age technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and data analytics to achieve incomparable success.

In 2021, the IT and Telecom industry is likely to see more strategic alliances and M&As to beef-up their digital transformation influences.

 

 

Apple India debuts online store, eyes more market share

Apple India debuts online store, eyes more market share

American multinational technology company, Apple, has announced that its online store will be launched in India on September 23. This will be the company’s first-ever direct retail touchpoint in India. Apple in India currently sells its devices through third-party licensed partners in physical stores or online retailers such as Amazon and Flipkart.

“We’re proud to be expanding in India and want to do all we can to support our customers and their communities. We know our users rely on technology to stay connected, engage in learning, and tap into their creativity. By bringing the Apple Store online to India, we are offering our customers the very best of Apple at this important time,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail + People, in a press release.

It is expected that the Apple Indian online store will sell Apple’s products at a discounted price and several freebies, especially during the upcoming Diwali festive season in India. To give a more personalized experience, Apple in India will also offer personal virtual sessions to all its direct buyers to understand the features of the new Apple product.

The development may come as a surprise for many as to why it took Apple in India so long to launch any retail shop. While the delayed launch in the second-largest telecom market in the world can be ascribed to Apple’s low market share in India, other factors, including the local government guidelines, also went against Apple’s direct retail aspiration in India.

The Indian government recently relaxed the rules that companies must source 30% of components locally to sell their products directly. This easing is a significant relief for Apple, which also plans to launch its physical stores in the country soon.

“Apple has been operating in India for more than 20 years, and its ongoing investment and innovation support almost 900,000 jobs across the country. Apple’s App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru has supported thousands of local developers. Today, apps created by developers in India have become even more critical to everyday life as people seek to stay engaged and connected from home,” the company notes in a press release.

Apple strategy: tackling premium price conundrum

 With the number of smartphone users in India estimated to reach around 800 million in 2021, the outlook of India’s smartphone market looks enticing. Many smartphone players, such as Xiaomi, Vivo, and Samsung, have flourished in the Indian market because of their cost-effective products. Apple, however, still has only 2 percent of the market share, with the iPhone maker pricing puts it in a luxurious product section.

Due to the price-conscious nature of the economy, Apple’s premium products in the country are out of the reach of many potential buyers’. And eventually, this low-cost juggernaut doesn’t let Apple increase its relative earnings in India.

Apple has taken several measures to lower the cost of its products in India. In July this year, Apple’s manufacturing partner, Foxconn, started assembling the iPhone 11 in India, a move that helped the company to save about 20% duty that the New Delhi charges for every imported product.

Besides, it has also collaborated with various banks and financial institutions to offer its premium products at an attractive price-points or through cashback offers.

Planning the next steps for growth

Given India’s strong focus on strengthening local manufacturing capabilities, and offering considerable incentives to companies which set-up their industrial units in India, Apple is now refreshing its strategy to boost its prospects here.

Various unsubstantiated reports indicate that Apple is planning to upsurge its manufacturing footprints in the Indian market. This is primarily because of the trade war between the US and China. Many American telecom companies are cutting down their output in China and moving to countries like India, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

Apple is also aware that the COVID-19 disruption may result in an extended delay in iPhone demand from European countries and the US. Hence, it is wise to build new business models and markets to mitigate the future growth crisis. (See: Will Apple bite India’s manufacturing bait )

 

Tech Mahindra gets new blockchain accreditation

Tech Mahindra gets new blockchain accreditation

Indian IT Services firm, Tech Mahindra, has been recognized as a Hyperledger Certified Service Provider (HCSP) for blockchain capabilities by Hyperledger and the Linux Foundation. Tech Mahindra says that the certification reinforces Tech Mahindra’s capabilities to provide blockchain technology support and setting up scalable blockchain networks for commercial deployments. The company claims that it was one of the 18 blockchain service providers globally to have received this certification, which is considered the gold standard in the open-source community.

Tech Mahindra has deployed over 25 blockchain platforms using Hyperledger projects across industry verticals such as banking and financial services, media and entertainment, telecom, retail, manufacturing, oil & gas, healthcare, and travel & logistics. The organization also has to credit the implementation of one of the world’s largest blockchain networks covering 500 million+ subscribers in India to fight spam calls and text.

The company has been engaged in over 250 global Blockchain deployments, with over 100 core blockchain team members trained on Hyperledger. The company is extensively focusing on developing and deploying several transformative implementations for governments, large and mid-sized enterprises across diverse industry verticals that have enabled customers to solve complex business problems.

“In order to successfully navigate and strategize in this ‘new normal,’ organizations must leverage technologies like blockchain to address this unprecedented challenge and create a competitive edge in the market. As part of our TechMNxt charter, we offer a holistic blockchain ecosystem to create industry-leading applications and enhance customer experiences. The recognition by the Linux Foundation as a Hyperledger Certified Service Provider is a matter of great pride for us to demonstrate our differentiated capabilities globally. This will provide us a definitive edge over our peers to position Tech Mahindra as a partner of choice,” says Rajesh Dhuddu, Blockchain and Cybersecurity Practice Leader, Tech Mahindra.

Hyperledger launched the HCSP program in November 2019. The program requires the blockchain technology professionals in an organization to enroll for an online, performance-based test consisting of a set of performance-based problems to be solved in a command line.

“Our Hyperledger Certified Service Provider (HCSP) program is designed to meet the growing demand for implementing Hyperledger-based solutions. As an HCSP, Tech Mahindra is now part of a global network of blockchain experts with the training and proven expertise to deploy Hyperledger DLTs (Distributed Ledger Technology) quickly and efficiently and to ensure ongoing success. Tech Mahindra has already played an active role in developing and deploying Hyperledger technologies, and we look forward to the work they will do as an HCSP,” says Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger.

For Tech Mahindra, Blockchain has been a big focus area in recent times. It recently entered into an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Blockchain for creating solutions in the aerospace, healthcare, and telecom sectors. This year, Tech Mahindra launched a new blockchain-based contract and rights management system (bCRMS) targeted toward the media and entertainment sector on IBM blockchain. The platform has been developed to help media companies to track revenue, royalty, payments, manage rights, and check plagiarism, among others.

Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities

Infosys buys GuideVision to boost Dx capabilities

IT services major Infosys has recently signed a definitive agreement to buy Czech Republic-based enterprise service management consultancy, GuideVision, for 30 million euros. The official statement by Infosys states that the deal is likely to be closed during the third quarter of fiscal 2021.

GuideVision is one of the largest ServiceNow Elite Partners in Europe and offers strategic advisory, consulting, implementations, training, and support capabilities for the ServiceNow platform. This acquisition will enable Infosys to leverage GuideVision’s established ServiceNow training academy and nearshore capabilities for its clients in Europe.

“This acquisition is an important milestone in our journey to build capabilities relevant to the digital priorities of our clients. This move reaffirms our commitment to the growing ServiceNow ecosystem. The combination of scalable and agile near-shore capabilities of GuideVision in Europe, and their unmatched delivery excellence, complements our effort to help global enterprises navigate their next. We are excited to welcome GuideVision and its leadership team into the Infosys family,” says Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys, in a statement.

Founded in 2014, GuideVision serves over 100 enterprise clients in the ServiceNow platform. Its offerings also include a proprietary smart data replication tool for ServiceNow, called Snow Mirror. Infosys itself is a ServiceNow partner and has been recognized as Global Service Partner of the year by ServiceNow for the last two years.

Santa Clara based ServiceNow delivers a cloud computing platform for businesses to manage their digital workflows for enterprise innovations.

Infosys Acquisition: Way to strengthen future capabilities

With the remote-work getting increased traction, digital transformation acceleration has become a central focal point for most of the enterprises. In such a setting, the Infosys acquiring GuideVision is a significant move for the Bengaluru-headquartered company to strengthen its position in the US and Europe, and fortify its digital transformation capabilities.

ServiceNow empowers the IT and operations team of a global enterprise to receive, track, and respond to varied requests of an employee of an organization, irrespective of his location. And they are gradually taking prominence amongst most of the global companies.

Infosys understands that it needs diverse capabilities and solutions to meet the unique demands of its clients and to stay relevant. Time and again, the technology major has made it clear that it will continue to take the digital acquisition and transformation partnership route to stay ahead of the competition. At its recent annual general meeting, Infosys’s CEO Salil Parekh commented that the company was actively exploring acquisitions in areas such as data, analytics, and cloud to further make substantial inroads in the digital capabilities.

GuideVision is Infosys’s third acquisition of this year, after buying Salesforce platinum partner Simplus for $250 million, and US-based product design and development firm, Kaleidoscope Innovation for $42 million.

 

 

Tik Tok Ban news: Could Oracle acquire TikTok

Tik Tok Ban news: Could Oracle acquire TikTok

Enterprise software major Oracle seems to have won the fiery bidding for TikTok’s US operations after Microsoft’s confirmation that TikTok has rejected its acquisition offer. Speculations are rife that Oracle is close to becoming ByteDance’s technology partner. It is, however, not clear whether TikTok video-sharing social app’s technical partnership with Oracle also includes majority ownership rights.

“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for Tik Tok video users while protecting national security interests,” says Microsoft in a statement.

The Beijing-based video-sharing social network giant had been facing a ban threat by the US government due to data leakage and security fears. The Trump government had earlier given a Diktat to TikTok to either sell its American operations to a US company or shut down the local operations.

The development has left many industry onlookers flabbergasted as Satya Nadella-led Microsoft was the favorite to ink a deal with TikTok for its US operations from ByteDance. Not only does Microsoft have a fat purse, but it also delivers the best capabilities and engineering science to address the data protection concerns brought up by the US.

Given the ongoing geopolitical tensions, many Chinese companies are facing heat in countries like India and the US.

Earlier this year, Washington had barred telecom equipment major Huawei from selling next Gen 5G equipment and solutions in the US marketplace. India, too, had banned over 100 Chinese apps, including TikTok, early this year, traveling along with a border clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Tik Tok ban: India’s response

It is highly unlikely that India will revoke the ban on TikTok’s operations unless Oracle acquires a majority stake in TikTok’s global operations as well as addresses New Delhi’s concerns related to security, data privacy, and user permissions.

India was Tik Tok’s largest overseas market, with over 200 million users when it shut down its operations in the country. The industry is abuzz with the reports that TikTok is exploring a backdoor entry in India through a local partner.

It would be interesting to watch if Oracle, the world’s second-greatest software company by market capitalization, can succeed in getting TikTok back in the Indian ecosystem.

Google’s new kid in India

After India banned TikTok in June this year, several companies tried to create TikTok clones to tap the massive audience who were left in the lurch after the Tik Tok ban in India. Surprisingly, none of the local alternatives were able to entice users and disrupt the authority TikTok enjoyed in the short-video segment.

Now, in the latest attempt, Google-owned YouTube has launched a new feature called Shorts, in beta version in India as an advantage of the Tik Tok ban. YouTube says that Shorts is a new way to express yourself in 15 seconds or less. “We’re excited to announce that we are building YouTube Shorts, a new short-form video experience right on YouTube for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones,” the company says in its official blog post.

Clearly, even if Tik Tok fails to earn a rejoinder, the competition in the short-video format is not going to stop in India.

 

 

 

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