Global Retail Banks Expect Digital Investments to Yield Measurable Returns by 2020: Infosys Finacle-Efma Research

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Chandigarh 08^th November:-  Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a product subsidiary of Infosys (NYSE: INFY), and Efma, a global not-for-profit organisation, today launched the ninth annual study of Innovation in Retail Banking. The research revealed that technology investments in 2018 will revolve around 'topical' areas such as information security, advanced analytics and open banking APIs, as opposed to 'future-looking' areas such as conversational AI, robotic process automation, the Internet of Things, augmented reality or virtual reality. However, 70% of organizations planned to support a conversational AI solution, with close to 25% having made investments in AI.

According to the report, retail banks continue their thrust on innovation in all functional areas, with customer experience and channels (both at 78%) being at the forefront. Other segments that have witnessed higher spends in innovation include products (67%), process improvement (64%) and marketing (57%).

The research, in which over 300 bankers globally participated, found that retail banks consider large technology companies, challenger banks, and smaller fintech start-ups as threats to their growth. Similar to 2016, the greatest impact of transformation is expected to be in the areas of payments and mobile wallets.

Vincent Bastid, CEO, Efma that nowadays so many new technologies are reaching maturity and a growing number of new entrants are offering alternative customer experiences and transaction interfaces. The 9th edition of the Innovation in Retail Banking study provides a roadmap to help organizations of all sizes prioritize their strategic choices and investments. We also believe the insights from this report will help incumbents strengthen their innovation initiatives and be more successful in their deployment.

Sanat Rao, Chief Business Officer and Global Head of Finacle that the 9th edition of the Innovation in Retail Banking report clearly reflects the sentiment we are witnessing globally. The case for investing in digital transformation and innovation has never been stronger, with changing customer preferences, technology upsurge and competition from the non-banking sector. Finacle has proactively invested and developed capabilities across the focus areas identified in the report, to help customers stay ahead with their innovation programs. We believe that this report will help banks with their planning and technology investments.

Jim Marous, Owner and Publisher of the Digital Banking Report and author of Study that as we expanded the scope of organizations included in this year's study, we find a significant difference in the innovation maturity and commitment to technology investment between the largest and smaller organizations, with smaller firms appearing to fall further behind market leaders. We also see a continued focus on iterative innovation as opposed to disruptive innovation, limiting the potential benefits of big data, advanced analytics and digital technologies. The winners in the future will be defined by those organizations that can leverage these three pillars in the delivery of a better customer experience.