Transforming financial services businesses for speed and resilience

Financial services businesses: Two employees working from laptops in an office

The landscape is shifting dramatically for financial services businesses. Embedded finance, open banking, and FinTech are among the most obvious disruptors. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are creating a complex dimension to regulatory reporting and compliance. Add generative AI (GenAI) to the mix, and the forces of change within the industry warrant the oft-used term ‘unprecedented’.

These were some of the topics covered by a panel I spoke on at the 2024 MoneyLIVE Summit in London. Whilst each of the panellists represented a different type of player in, or partner to, the industry, the overwhelming consensus of discussions was clear: The need for innovation and transformation has never been more urgent or real.

Transformation’s evolution

How those twin imperatives are put into practice is key. The days of all-or-nothing transformations taking three to five years are almost certainly behind us. Speed to value is now essential. With that must come a different approach to transformation.

This demands addressing one or two processes, standing them up quickly, proving their success, and then scaling. Agile, modular, and incremental change methodologies must show faster returns on technology investments. The combination of cloud and new platform approaches means we now have the technology to make that happen.

People first, last, and in between

How to make change happen is one important question. Whom to make it happen for is another critical consideration. Taking the time to understand your users—whether they’re customers, employees, investors, or regulators—and placing them at the centre of strategy and design is also essential.

Banks and financial services businesses need to ask themselves:

To that end, making design an inclusive process is essential. Inclusive design encourages thinking that can proactively meet the needs of all users. That might be, for example, a mobile app that emphasises accessibility. In the process of designing for users who have specific needs regarding tech, the experience ends up better for everyone.

Generative AI everywhere

When it comes to thinking about new products and services, it's impossible to escape the subject of AI and GenAI in conversations about the future of any industry. The recent summit was no exception.

The pace of developments in GenAI is astonishing. Research by IDC predicts the GenAI solutions market will reach $151 billion by 2027. Given the speed of change, nobody has all the answers.

Defining the right approach and identifying the best use cases requires careful thought. One principle is likely to be important for all use cases: being people-led. The use of GenAI can help eliminate many of the repetitive tasks people must do, freeing them to get to the work they want to do (and are often highly trained for).

At ServiceNow, we’re putting AI and GenAI to work on the Now Platform® to help improve productivity—and to enable people to focus on the areas where their skills add the greatest value.

Data above all

Connecting data that flows between front, middle, and back offices is essential to creating the best experiences for everyone, whether they’re customers, employees, investors, or regulators.

Take ESG reporting. Organisations are moving on from setting targets and announcing ambitions for net zero. Now, the focus is on capturing and reporting on environmental impacts and performance across internal operations, as well as lending and asset portfolios.

The data to enable that comes from many different sources within and outside the organisation. Bringing it together to provide a single version of the truth that’s traceable, auditable, and workable for everyone—from the CEO to employees in operations—is vital.

Improving resilience to the risks facing financial services businesses today necessitates a joined-up approach that breaks down silos and puts information and the right tools at the fingertips of anyone who needs them.

Find out how ServiceNow helps financial services businesses transform.