BT launches innovative showcase to help financial services create secure digital customer experiences

Last week PaymentEye attended an exclusive media, analyst and consultant event at BT’s new banking and insurance showcase at Adastral Park. Our agenda was filled with learning what BT has to offer by bringing its expertise in customer experience, creating technologies of the future, and improving the security of financial services.

Located at its Adastral Park research and development centre in the UK, BT’s innovative showcase demonstrates how digital innovations can be securely adopted throughout a financial services organisation to improve efficiency and customer experience whilst simultaneously creating a platform to drive growth.

The main objectives of the event was to discuss how businesses and financial services companies should interact with customers to take advantages of digital technologies, while responding to changing regulations and competition.

Innovation is key

The new financial services innovation features more than 20 practical solutions, spanning customer interaction, employee productivity, operational efficiency, and security. BT’s dynamic network services feature the latest innovations such as network functions virtualisation (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN).

The modern, cloud-optimised network services can give financial services businesses the agility to adapt to changing demands and show how innovation in core IT infrastructure is vital to their digital transformation plans.

Demonstrating how to secure customer access to financial services products was pivotal focus of the showcase. The features in Adastral Park included biometric tools, used for facial recognition techniques for authentication of online users and palm vein authentication for cash withdrawals. Underpinning the digitally transformed financial services organisation will be a dynamic network services infrastructure connecting people, systems and applications. It will collect data from offices, branches, devices, apps and contact centres, bringing it together in the cloud to create a single view of the customer for analysis and action.

Expert discussions and insights

At a roundtable discussion held after the media briefing, we sat down with BT experts and leading banking and insurance professionals to discuss the impact of innovation in today’s financial market.

“People need transparency. Customers’ needs are changing with the fast-paced innovations that are emerging in the markets,”said Pendar Ostovar, Executive Director of Strategy & Research, British Bankers’ Association. “What was once visionary is now starting to take place. Innovation is everywhere, and it’s providing the convenience which customers are actively looking out for.”

Evolution in banking apps is inevitably making it easier for consumers to manage their personal finances. Biometrics is becoming increasingly common and an important part of verification, as it’s both visual and authentic.

Marcus Hickman, Davies Hickman Partners, author of Youbiquity Finance report, also added: “Banks and financial services are putting customers at the heart of their business. It’s all about customer experience now.”

Ashish Gupta, President of UK and Global Banking & Financial Markets at BT’s Global Services division, said: “To succeed in the digital world, financial services firms need to be data driven, customer obsessed, hyper connected and super agile.  For many firms currently operating a complex mix of old and new technologies, this presents a significant challenge.”

 

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