Evidently, the future of banking is now; as innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, machine learning and other technologically advanced tools are changing banking dynamics world over.
A Futurist, Author, and Chief Executive Officer, Moven, United Kingdom, Brett King, he reiterated that technology is moving much faster than before, stressing that in such an environment of rapid change, “you either disrupt or get disrupted.”
King while speaking at the Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF2019) Disrupt Conference, organised by Access Bank, stated that is the world continuously advances at the rate of current technological advancement, there will be more robots than human beings in he next five to six years.
In the financial services sector, the futurist hailed Nigeria for leapfrogging in technology adoption saying that Nigeria probably has more modern payment systems than the United States.
However, he warned that, “disruption is central to the survivability of the banks and other sectors,” stressing that “with technology like machine learning, artificial intelligence opening more bank branches will become unfashionable”
“We are in era where cars have more information than the human driver; this is the big disruption”.
“AI in the future will be able to notify you of an intending scam and who wants to scam you. Disruptions are no respecter of persons or industries. For instance, China is 10 years ahead of the USA. With AI technology the Chinese government can recognize its 1.4billion population with CCTV cameras.”
Giving his opening speech on the future of intelligent banking; Herbert Wigwe, MD/CEO of Access Bank, stressed on how technology is demystifying services and products.
He said that this is more about data and its transferability, noting that being an intelligent bank is no longer an option, but a necessity.
“There was a time when payments could only be made through Cheques. Now, through technology, transactions worth billions can be made in seconds. That is how much the world has changed.”
“This is more about data and its transferability. The payment system like all other system is benefiting from it. There has been a massive improvement in collection, processing and transferability of data. That is the improvement worth celebrating,” Wigwe said.
The conference which featured different panel sessions on topics bordering venture capital, the future of gaming and artificial intelligence, regulation technology, the future of cash in a digital world, a robotics demo, fireside chats and master classes, had in attendance, industry experts, and technology enthusiasts from all around the world.
