Improving efficiency and reducing manual processing of trade finance services has been a difficult challenge for over a century. However, the industry is on the cusp of a transformation which promises to standardize and automate this highly idiosyncratic, manual ecosystem. This blog identifies some of the key trends in trade finance transformation and how one vendor, Capgemini, is su[...]

  The BFSI industries are increasingly looking to intelligent automation (IA) to address key challenges in their business. A recent NelsonHall survey of 50 BFSI executives found that they perceive that IA is able to replace manual processing and human decision-making, allowing the bank’s operations to decouple processing volumes from headcount. Key benefits respondents expect to [...]

  Blockchain has been a focus of technologists, VCs, and media pundits for several years now. However, to date, operational deployment remains minimal. Of all enterprises already working with blockchain, only a few percent have a scale operational deployment. Blockchain has seen three stages in its short history: Lab testing of the technology: 2014 to 2016. Key events include the[...]

NelsonHall recently attended the TCS Innovation Forum 2019 in New York. The forum demonstrated clear progress in TCS’ thinking and approach to Business 4.0 since last year’s conference – TCS has identified human engagement and buy-in with the principles of Business 4.0 as critical to successful implementation and value realization in business transformation. And human buy-in [...]

  NelsonHall recently attended the EY Global Analyst Summit in Boston. EY has grown its revenues at 8.5% CAAGR over the past five years, while investing heavily in technology and adapting its business model to become an IP-based services vendor rather than a provider of pure labor-based services.  Here I take a quick look at EY’s wavespace offering and how it is being use[...]

  I recently attended the WNS influencer conference in New Orleans, the theme of which was 'Co-create to Outperform’. WNS believes that the marketplace understands what transformation means for their businesses, but the challenge is how to achieve this vision. WNS’ view is that, for transformation to be effective, it needs to be customized for the client with their full[...]

  I recently attended the official opening of Infosys’ design center in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2017, Infosys committed to hire 10k workers in the U.S. by 2022. Part of that commitment is a plan to open six training and delivery centers across the U.S. intended to provide benefits including: Partnering with local colleges who have specific capabilities such as des[...]

  The banking industry cycle has turned towards austerity for 2019 as indicated by recent events, including: Labor cost cutting: State Street announced 1.5k executive layoffs, and Santander will close 20% of its bank branches in the U.K. Both are part of long-term trends incurred by automation and the shift to omni-channel delivery   M&A activity: Cost pressure is driv[...]

The primary purpose of Wipro'ss Digital & Big Bets Analyst Relations day in Boston at the end of November was to outline its digital and automation strategy, including presenting some startup partners Wipro is working with (and has invested in through Wipro Ventures) to help drive forward this strategy. Wipro believes its key technology bets will enable it to help clients reinvent thei[...]

The recent NIIT Tech (NIIT Technologies Ltd.) analyst conference was an opportunity for the current administration, most of whose executives have been at the company less than 18 months, to discuss their strong business success. FY19 (ending March 31, 2019) has so far added 19 new clients. The BFS industry sector added four large clients. NIIT Tech has accelerated its growth under CEO Sudhi[...]

I recently attended the Infosys Confluence event in California to look at the vendor’s activities in banking & financial services (BFS). Here are the key takeaways. Under its current CEO, Infosys has taken a new software-agnostic approach to digital business, which is yielding results. Infosys has proprietary platforms, including Finacle, for core banking and NIA for AI. However, [...]

This is the latest in a recent series of blogs on open banking, which is likely to become the biggest driver of change in the banking industry since double-entry bookkeeping swept the industry in Genoa during the 1300s. I recently talked with Virtusa’s xLabs, a digital innovation hub within Virtusa, about their approach to open banking and what their roadmap is for the future. Open In[...]

  I recently attended the TCS Business 4.0 conference in Boston to understand TCS’ latest developments in the BFSI sector. Here are the key takeaways. BFSI represented 32.5% of TCS’ Q2 2018 revenues and generated $7.7bn in revenue over the latest twelve months. TCS reports 20% of BFSI revenues are derived from its digital offerings, with BFSI clients adopting digital tec[...]

  Since the financial crisis, regulators have been tightening the KYC processes banks are required to undertake. Enhanced KYC requirements have been applied across many regulations, including MiFID, PSD2, and ultimate beneficial ownership requirements (U.S. CDD Rule). And, as compliance requirements have increased, banks have spent increasing amounts of time and resources on addressing[...]

  NelsonHall recently attended Mphasis’ analyst summit in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Key takeaways are that the company is now focusing on digital and cognitive services applied to legacy systems, and on geographic expansion, specifically in North America and continental Europe. Mphasis is leveraging its industry experience, including BFSI, which accounts for ~75% of revenues, to[...]

  I recently attended the Avaloq Community Conference in Zurich, where the key themes were cloud delivery, operations ecosystem, open banking platforms, and combined ITS/BPS engagements. Here I take a quick look at Avaloq’s strategy in each of these areas. Cloud delivery Avaloq recently announced a partnership with IBM for a global private cloud delivery capability for cust[...]

  I recently attended the Capgemini Financial Services Industry Conference in London, also meeting up with several banks to learn more about where they are spending their digital services money, what they are looking for from digital projects, and where the market is headed. Bank demand for digital services has grown and matured over the past few years. In 2015 and 2016, IT services[...]

  The banking industry is undergoing significant legal and operational transformation, including the move towards open banking, a regulatory requirement whereby banks open their platforms to third-parties for them to transact business with the banks’ customers and suppliers. Here I look at how Infosys, with its Finacle suite of solutions, is working with banks to support the tran[...]

  Loan originations are a key part of the digital revolution taking place in the banking industry, and banks have two key goals when they replace their legacy loan origination systems (LOS): Enabling omnichannel delivery of LOS services Reducing time to fulfillment (turnaround time). Long-established banks are adopting digital solutions to achieve these goals with the expe[...]

  I am currently working on a global market assessment of digital banking services, and my interviews with banks and service providers alike are showing that technology implementation is less of a concern than how digital services will change the way customers and banks interact. As customer/bank interactions change, the industry’s competitive forces will change, and this will ev[...]