Finnovate Fall 2020 Digital Summit

This year we were lucky enough to attend the Finnovate Fall 2020 Digital Summit virtual conference. Here we were able to listen to some of the greatest minds at the front of the Financial Technology industry and learn about the latest and greatest innovations in FinTech. There were speakers from J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Google, Zendesk, and many others sharing and collaborating their ideas. From the very start, there were five main categories that the conference was broken into: Banking, Financial Crime, Payments & Digitation, Tech, & Wealth Tech. These categories make up the subsectors of the FinTech industry and their focus points. Below, we will share some key highlights and biggest takeaways from the conference: 

Highlights: 

• Pablo Holman, a world-renowned hacker, gave a speech on changing the mindset of innovation. He spoke on the importance of truly understanding real world problems and creating real world solutions. “Nobody has ever invented a new technology by reading the directions.” 
• Adam Dell, Partner at Goldman Sachs, talked about the acceleration of digital tool innovation and the customer demand for online services. Dell spoke on the new age of Open Banking and how financial services are going to have to undergo a digital transformation. “The winners will be those that can offer a delightful digital experience, a fair deal for the consumer, and the lowest cost means of delivery.” 
• Steven Ramerez, CEO of Beyond the Arc, gave his thoughts on the future ecosystem of financial services. He emphasized a “customer-centric ecosystem” that will drive the financial market.  
• Sarika Sangwan, Global Head of Strategy & Marketing at Pinterest, spoke about the importance of trust in a time where you are not able to physically meet with someone. She also gave advice on how companies can build trust with their clients. “Trust is the make or break difference for brands.”  

Takeaways: 

There were two major takeaways from the entire event that were emphasized extensively: Creating a more user-friendly experience and utilizing back end Big Data. There is no denying the customer demand to be able to have full control over their accounts. Customers want to be able to make real-time, remote transactions themselves without the hassle of paperwork and wait time. They want it here, they want it now, and they want it private. Big data has also become a driving force in the financial industry. Companies are now able to track behavior analytics and use statistical predictions to understand client financial needs better and provide sound digital advice.  

Summary: 

The financial industry is moving to a digital business model per customer demand and user data is being used to enhance customer experience and ease employee workload.  However, there is very little focus onto the security and protection of data. FinTech organizations are using Application Interfaces (API) to automate processes and allow financial clients to have control over their account. However, in order to make that happen they need to import and export massive amount of client personal sensitive data. Which is often being left unsecure. API’s provide portals into a company’s network which, if not managed correctly, can be a vulnerability point for cybercriminals. Turning “big data” into “smart data” has never been a bigger challenge or of greater importance. That is why Steel Patriot Partners, we aim to simplify compliance and cybersecurity operations for financial companies and institutions. We provide a comprehensive, outsourced, full-scale cybersecurity solution that can be fully implemented, automated, and learning in 1-2 months. Financial firms can not only create a holistic approach to their data security, but they will also be able to scale to any FinTech innovation. For more information on how your company can secure the entirety of its network (FinTech API included) please feel free to reach out to us! [email protected] or 703-297-4405.