'Internet of Things' in banking: The vital links

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The banking industry has gone frombrick and mortar to digital, and with the advent of ‘Internet of Things (IoT),’ the future is looking very interesting.

The banks have conceptualised an omni-channel approach for customer engagement, and significant importance has been given to customer experience. So, what we have experienced thus far is evolution and stabilisation; we are yet to see the full blow of disruption in this space.

Customer touch points are increasing and customer interaction channels are changing. The banking industry is adopting IoT in significant scale and has also implemented in certain functions to enrich customer experiences, such as in KYC, lending, collateral management, trade finance, payments, personal financial management and insurance. IoT technology ensures that customer and financial data are potentially kept secured. IoT-led banking can actually help banks reduce the overall cost of banking, and enrich the customer experience and be more contextual and conversational.

Banks and financial services organisations can provide appropriate contextual services. Biometric voice or touch have enabled account access in the new era of digital channels. Certain processes allow customers to remotely sign through any touchscreen device and the same signature can be cloned onto the physical paper using technology – such as “wet ink”.

In fact, the entire agriculture lending system can be automated—right through the life-cycle of the loan. The bank can monitor the performance of the loan, including agronomy.

IoT-led digital transformations will create great opportunities for banks, with new products and services. It will help them attract NTB (New-to-Bank) clients and thereby increase their market share. This is an era of Internet of Things in Banking—which, soon, will be known just as the things of banking.