Automation and the future of money in 2023
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The introduction of innovative technologies brings exciting new opportunities—as well as the potential for unforeseen consequences. GPT-3 and other AI-powered solutions are already here or on the horizon that can help address a range of stubborn fintech-related use cases and problems. What benefits do they bring, and what should we watch out for as they scale?
1. Customer support
Where over-the-phone automated customer service solutions once caused headaches, newer platforms are more accurate and complex. The launch of technologies like ChatGPT suggests that consumer-facing fintechs and institutions can use tech-driven support to address the majority of support requests, requiring less initial overhead to implement than more rigid automation solutions, which need explicit decision trees and other frameworks to function properly.
If these solutions are sufficiently economical and complement in-person support and human support for more sensitive issues, they can level the playing field between smaller fintechs, banks, and larger financial institutions. Regional banks can leverage the same support tech as bigger mobile-first banks, while using personal contact and local knowledge as product differentiators. However, making that transition successfully may require greater investment in support over the medium term, making sure that the right policies are in place to differentiate human- from automated-support questions.
2. Fraud detection
Similar dynamics govern the fraud-detection space. As Adwait Joshi, Founder & CEO of DataSeers, told The Financial Revolutionist, medium-sized banks and fintechs are interested in purchasing automated compliance suites in order to compete with FIs building out in-house solutions. “If a bank can trust our solution for compliance—and they’re under much more regulatory pressure than fintechs—then fintechs can trust our solution, too,” Joshi said. “So the key is focusing on the banks.”
Consumers may experience the expansion of these systems through apps and texts rather than phone calls and in-person remediation. Banks should ensure that, while those solutions may scale, they retain sufficient bandwidth through more traditional channels to accommodate the needs of less tech-savvy customers.
3. The blockchain
From forensic accounting to smart contracts, the blockchain offers a suite of automated possibilities that can help consumers and businesses alike. However, faith and investment in the blockchain are directly tied to the crypto sector, which experienced a significant decline over 2022 through nosediving coin prices as well as the collapse of major institutions like FTX and Celsius. Trust in blockchain technology is at a low, and showcasing its non-crypto utility may be a promising way to rebuild confidence in this tech.
