Blockchain technology is a “natural” for the financial industry. When vast numbers of transactions are date and time-stamped, recorded and stored in global ledgers, there are the obvious benefits of security, transparency, privacy, and fraud reduction.
We have all felt the pain – making online reservations and filling in those fields with name, birthdate, credit card information, etc.; getting through airport security lines with our ID’s and shoes in a tray; finding that our flight has been overbooked and agents are asking for volunteers or, in some cases, kicking passengers off; ordering an Uber upon arrival and again punching in all of that information; arriving at our hotel and once again showing our ID’s and credit cards during the check-in process.
It is not called “customer service” anymore – it’s called “customer relationships.” This is what e-commerce has brought. Consumers can search the world over for products and services they want, and they are pretty demanding when it comes to how they are treated by businesses. They can be extremely fickle and will only remain loyal to companies that provide amazing customer service. Customer service is far more complex than shipping purchases in a timely manner and processing exchanges and refunds.
A visit to the doctor’s office, in about 50% of instances, means that your file is pulled, and our medical history is all noted from every visit you have had. And, if you go to another doctor, the same thing happens. Doctor #1 doesn’t know what doctor #2 has in your file, and vice versa. In the other 50%+ of instances, there is no longer a paper file of your medical history.
Traditional bankers who believe that fintech is simply a distraction are living in a dream world. It’s here to stay and it is the first major disruptive challenge to the traditional banking industry in decades. From the launch of PayPal in 1998, technology has exploded into the banking industry, and there is much more to come. Granted, there is still a place for the traditional banking institution, but that will be an ever decreasing one as older generations leave us and every demographic from Gen-X on down demands immediacy...