Connect with us

News

STARFISH DIGITAL HIRES AMELIA TO DELIVER TECHNOLOGY SERVICES TO RAPIDLY GROWING CLIENT BASE

Published

on

Starfish Digital selected Amelia as the intelligent platform of choice for Conversational AI and process automation.

 

Amelia, the largest independent leader in enterprise Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), today announced a partnership with Starfish Digital, a microservice and digital integration company that enables the automation of data transactions through B2B systems integration. Starfish is deploying Amelia, the market-leading Digital Employee, to deliver and build out microservices to their growing financial client base. Amelia will also be used in their technology stack to facilitate customer assistance.

 

“Starfish Digital is delighted to be partnering with Amelia, the most intelligent conversational agent on the market,” said Patrick Huang, Chief Executive Officer of Starfish Digital. “By working together, we will make a transformational impact on companies advancing their digital journeys through microservices.”

 

“Customers of financial services firms want to bank anytime, anywhere via their smartphones,” Huang continued. “Amelia’s conversational abilities coupled with Starfish Digital’s dynamically scalable, fault-tolerant, predictable, and secure technology meets market demands for innovative digital financial solutions designed by experts.”

 

“Strategically, one of the compelling reasons to partner with Amelia is her multilingual capabilities,” said Sally Clarke, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Business Development at Starfish Digital. “For customers in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, the local language is hugely important, and Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs) can change the face of front-office operations through automation and, when used in combination with other technologies, revolutionize products and services.”

 

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Starfish Digital and to help them achieve their mission of providing innovative technology solutions for their clients,” said Chetan Dube, CEO of Amelia. “Amelia has a proven track record of enabling companies to optimize their business processes in more efficient, cost-effective, and consumer-friendly ways, and we can’t wait to hit the ground running with Starfish to make that happen.”

 

“Starfish Digital is excited to ‘hire’ and partner with Amelia as our Starfish Concierge,” said Dan Choi, Chief Technology Officer at Starfish Digital. “Starfish Digital is focused on delivering B2B connectivity and technology integration through microservices applications. We enable clients to create the digital rails and services needed to automate B2B connectivity and integration and accelerate their business capabilities.”

 

Starfish hired Amelia as the official Starfish Concierge, which will operate as a critical customer interaction agent providing multi-channel conversational exchanges, customer care and back-end operational support. Amelia’s conversational and multilingual capabilities enable Starfish Digital to interact with their clients personally in their native languages. As their client base grows and expands, Amelia’s HyperAutomation capabilities will facilitate Starfish Digital’s growth without requiring linear growth of resources.

 

Starfish is initially focused on the Southeast Asia market, where the combined population and potential market is more than 650 million people, with plans to expand globally. Thailand and Singapore are Starfish’s leading markets — where corporations have prioritized digitalization as a result of COVID-19. Starfish hired Amelia in anticipation of changes brought on by the pandemic that will likely lead to the rise of a new type of financial services provider in the region. These institutions will prioritize hyper-personalization, ecosystem plays, risk management, and a trend towards building connected platforms. Starfish will begin offering Amelia’s services to clients in August 2021.

 

Banking

Why the future is phygital

Published

on

By

By Eric Megret-Dorne, Head of Card Issuance Services and Service Operations at Giesecke + Devrient

 

Digital banking has become increasingly ingrained in people’s everyday lives. Today, 73% of people globally use online banking at least once a month. Traditional bricks-and-mortar banks, which have long relied on the in-person experience with customers, are now having to step up their offering. With new ways of working blurring the work-home boundary, banks must ensure a fast, seamless connection between face-to-face processes and virtual customer experiences.

However, this does not mean that physical and digital banking are in competition with each other. In fact, many continue to use physical bank cards, with 1.12 billion in circulation in 2021, which provides the basis for digital payments and offerings. As a result, the benefits of digitalisation should converge with the comfort of physical touchpoints to create a holistic, “phygital” experience.

The path to phygital

Banks are accelerating their digital transformation strategies to keep up with the fast pace of fintech innovations. To meet the changing needs and preferences of customers, the payment world is leveraging new technologies to create personalised experiences through a range of different channels.

While the digitalisation of banking has been underway for quite some time – particularly for younger generations – events such as the Covid-19 crisis forced banks and customers of all ages to use digital tools and processes to compensate for branch, office, and call centre closures. With branches worldwide typically operating at reduced capacity due to social distancing requirements, consumers embraced online banking to avoid both the virus and potentially long queues.

However, some consumers still enjoy physical touchpoints, meaning a digital-only approach won’t suit everyone.

Striking a balance

It’s all about options – consumers now want to freely switch between traditional and digital channels without being forced into one. But how can banks achieve this phygital balance? One way is to equip physical channels with digital capabilities, so that online tools can augment the physical experience. For example, personalised bank cards with a bespoke design can be activated digitally, offering customers an extra layer of convenience. Having to wait for a new PIN to arrive in the mail is a common bugbear for consumers, so bringing card activation processes into the digital ecosystem will ensure a more seamless experience.

Greater automation in the card issuance and activation process enables the benefits of digital to be integrated into the physical banking experience without being intrusive. For instance, self-service kiosks empower customers to print their own cards, reducing the time between acquisition and card issuance, while still allowing for in-branch expertise if needed.

The personal touch

Phygital strategies also give banks a range of valuable data insights that can help them better serve their customers. This includes data on purchasing behaviours and habits, which can then be utilised to improve banks’ offerings and unify the physical and digital brand experience. Using omnichannel data helps to build a hyperpersonalisation strategy to provide real-time services.

In this way, digital solutions help banks maximise their user experience. Whenever a consumer interact with a bank, it creates data and behaviours. With fragmented databases, legacy systems and real-time data created by interactions with third-party partners through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), it is not always easy for banks to streamline this data from different sources. By understanding patterns in that data and behaviours, banks can tailor and personalise unique experiences for each and every user.

Where security meets innovation

With big data opportunities abound, banks should be mindful of their consumers’ security concerns. Customers are now demanding much more transparency when it comes to how information is stored and collected. At the same time, they still desire greater personalisation via digital methods. Therefore, any successful phygital strategy requires a robust digital security to ensure customers have the same peace of mind as when they complete physical transactions.

To close the gap between innovation and security, banks should utilise tokenised infrastructure, which ensures the safe provision of payment credentials and securing of customer payments across all touchpoints. This is particularly important as regulations such as PSD2 and SCA demand strong authentication requirements.

The use of a token greatly enhances the consumer experience. For example, it allows for card details to be automatically updated for subscription services upon the expiry of an existing one, avoiding any service disruption.  Multi-factor authentication can also ensure an additional layer of security, as it combines a password with verifiable human biometrics such as fingerprints or facial recognition.

Best of both worlds

Every consumer has unique preferences when it comes to banking. Therefore, banks must evolve by bringing both physical and virtual touchpoints into a ‘phygital’ world. Only a phygital approach can meet the needs of all end users – whether they favour an in-person experience, an online one, or a blend of the two. The holistic data insights, personalisation opportunities, and optimised security ensured at every touchpoint are also critical in building future-ready banks.

Continue Reading

News

Adyen drives conversion uplift with advanced authentication solution

Published

on

By

The company’s expanded authentication offering optimizes authorization, security, and end revenue

 

Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, announces that it has further advanced its digital authentication solution, with ongoing pilots realizing a conversion uplift of up to 7%. Engineered to optimize authorization and therefore end revenue, the company’s expanded capabilities include Delegated Authentication, Data-Only, and Trusted Beneficiaries functionalities. By turning regulatory challenges into opportunities, Adyen’s authentication ecosystem combines security and seamless checkout experiences to drive growth for digital businesses.

“Adyen continues to expand the capabilities of our single platform,” says Trevor Nies, Global Head of Digital Strategy at Adyen. “Our recent authentication innovations show how we’re continuously finding new avenues to help our digital customers grow. As a partner, we identify opportunities to address and simplify regulatory challenges on behalf of global businesses. Our Delegated Authentication, Data-Only, and Trusted Beneficiaries functionalities are the latest ways we are embodying this mindset of turning complexity into conversion, which greatly reduces friction for our customers.”

In regions where Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) is required , Adyen has implemented its Delegated Authentication technology as an additional option to streamline authentication while remaining compliant. While many digital authentication flows are full of friction including redirects, Delegated Authentication allows Adyen to fully authenticate the consumer on behalf of the issuer, providing a streamlined cardholder experience while remaining within the merchant checkout page. To maintain the highest security standards while providing ease of use, Delegated Authentication enables shoppers to utilize two-factor authentication, leveraging biometric checks such as fingerprint recognition and facial scans, and device bound credentials. Delegated Authentication has been expanded from only web browser users to include iOS and Android users.

To further cater to customer needs in regulated markets, Adyen has advanced its Trusted Beneficiaries functionality. Through Trusted Beneficiaries, shoppers in the checkout stage are given the option to simultaneously add a business to their list of trusted companies. After designating a business as ‘trusted,’ shoppers will not need to be re-authenticated when purchasing from them. This again brings added convenience to the consumer and increased conversion to the business.

Even in regions where strict authentication regulations are not in place, Adyen is using its global expertise to improve authorization rates using its Data-Only feature. When a transaction is executed where customer authentication is not mandatory, such as in the US or Brazil, Adyen can share authentication data with schemes in order to help them make more informed authorization decisions. By using Data-Only, businesses have been able to broaden their decision-making resources and increase conversion while reducing fraud.

In line with the company’s long-held approach to building upon its single platform, Adyen is committed to continuously broadening its global authentication capabilities. As the technology evolves, businesses can rely on it to optimize authorization in both mandated and non-mandated markets. With Adyen’s expanded solution already driving noteworthy conversion uplift in ongoing pilots, Adyen looks forward to further demonstrating the value of authentication as a strategic revenue driver.

Continue Reading

Magazine

Trending

Business1 day ago

How app usage can help brands increase their online revenues and customer retention

Arunabh Madhur, Regional VP & Head Business EMEA at SHAREit Group   Brands are continuing to invest heavily in the...

Banking1 day ago

Will ‘Britcoin’ change the way we bank?

The Treasury and Bank of England recently announced a state-backed digital pound is likely to be launched in the UK...

Finance1 day ago

In-Store, Online & In-App – Unifying Payment Authentication

Michel Roig, President of Payment and Access, Fingerprints   Often, new technologies are lauded as the death of existing ones....

Banking1 day ago

Why the future is phygital

By Eric Megret-Dorne, Head of Card Issuance Services and Service Operations at Giesecke + Devrient   Digital banking has become...

Finance1 day ago

Why Keeping Track of Cash Is Key to Economic Survival

By Joshua May, Consulting Manager EMEA, BlackLine   Finance and Accounting (F&A) has always had a reputation for its calm...

Business2 days ago

Does the middle market have a financial edge?  

Ilija Ugrinic, Commercial Solutions Director at Proactis   Companies tend to look up the ladder when searching for ways to...

Business3 days ago

Hybrid Intelligence – The only way to face the problems of the future

Author: Prof. Dr. Iris Lorscheid, Vice-Rector Research and Professor of Digital Business and Data Science Computer Science at the University...

Business4 days ago

Consumer demand driving sustainable payments

Jenn Markey, VP Payments & Identity, Entrust   Sustainability is a buzzword that seems to be at the forefront of...

News4 days ago

Adyen drives conversion uplift with advanced authentication solution

The company’s expanded authentication offering optimizes authorization, security, and end revenue   Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global financial technology platform...

Finance4 days ago

It’s time for financial institutions to take personalization seriously

David Hetling, Global Marketing Director, Financial Services, RWS   Financial institutions will always play a critical role in society, offering...

Banking6 days ago

The Future of Capital Markets: Democratisation of Retail Investing

Nicky Maan, CEO of Spectrum Markets   Over the past decades, global capital markets have undergone tremendous changes. There have...

Top 101 week ago

5 Often-Overlooked Investment Options To Consider Exploring In 2023

When choosing what to invest in, many people will initially focus on the stock market which is considered a more...

News1 week ago

New Open Banking platform Archie waves a timely hello to Britain’s beleaguered businesses

Archie is a game-changing payments and data platform that’s inherently human in its approach; a refreshing proposition in the jargon-heavy...

Finance1 week ago

Innovating inclusivity: How invoice financing is diversifying access to financial streams

“Entrepreneurs, particularly those in the supply chain in Europe, the United Kingdom, and indeed the rest of the world, frustrated...

Business1 week ago

The data behind AI’s success in the financial sector

Or Lenchner, CEO at Bright Data   AI (Artificial Intelligence) has taken the world by storm. The OECD estimates that...

Business1 week ago

The Risks Of Company Mergers And How To Avoid Them

There are a lot of benefits to agreeing on a company merger with another business, and this includes, but is...

Finance1 week ago

How diversity is evolving in the fintech industry

by Elena Dimova, VP HR Bulgaria and Operations & Technology at Paysafe.   With both finance and technology being traditionally male-dominated...

Finance1 week ago

How the Isle of Man is encouraging a new generation of FinTech innovators

FinTech’s potential to transform how finance and business operates has gained attention around the world in recent years. In 2022,...

Business1 week ago

Protecting Customer Data in Online Business

With the increasing number of online businesses, protecting customer data has become more important than ever. Cybersecurity breaches can cause...

Business2 weeks ago

END OF AN ERA OF CHEAP MONEY

Professor Milos Petkovic, PhD Lecturer at Berlin School of Business & Innovation   Prior to 2022, the global financial market...

Trending