Magazine_BEAST_2018_Edition_11_complet.compressed

#Technology | FinTech
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© Shutterstock - Dmi T
«On top of that, when needing to actually
work with a human being (instead of a digital
interface) to resolve an issue or get advice,
they’ll be working with bankers who will
be able to show them predictive models/
outcomes not based on general market data
or a rules calculator, but on that customer’s
unique data history and pattern with deeper
insights specific to them,» she adds.
Finally, Stefan Van Geyt, Group Chief
Investment Officer at KBL European Private
Bankers, sees AI as becoming more important
in the months to come: «Robo-advisory will
continue to grow – with penetration rates
rising faster among younger clients and those
based in emerging markets – but won’t replace
human contact anytime soon, especially in
sectors like wealth management». The Group
Chief Investment Officer predicts that we are
going to see an increasingly hybrid approach:
clients will benefit from the robo-advisor’s
capacity to analyze reams of data with total
objectivity and the human advisor’s ability to
listen to another individual, understand their
hopes and fears, and earn their trust.
Attracting talents and using the agile methodology
A challenge for any FinTech company, or for banks who
decided to develop their own innovative services instead
of partnering with startups, has been finding the right skills
and talents, especially in Luxembourg. According to Yves
Baguet, COO of BIL – Banque International à Luxembourg –,
«Human is at the very center of every single transformation
and development strategy. The human aspects are key
vectors and too many examples show failures when these
were not taken into consideration. It can even be compared
to IT infrastructures, where the ‘soft’ has a direct impact on
the ‘hard’. Also, the agile way of working requires interaction
between co-workers rather than processes. It also means
adding a lot of fun in the daily tasks. I have seen it many
times in agile companies: it’s about making work fun again!».
Ghela Boskovich is also an advocate of the agile methodology:
«Imitation is the sincerest form of capitalizing on something
that already works. Banks can also adopt agile methodology
and lean model canvassing, and many are doing that in
their own dev teams». Yet, according to her, copying the
methodology is no challenge.
The actual challenge lies in accepting the models of
innovation that actually work, models that operate truly
independently from the bank while still leveraging the
competitive advantage of being a big corporate, such
as resources and funding. «Innovation centers are still
fundamentally under the umbrella of the banks, and
therefore aligned with the same incentive and governance
structure of the corporation That umbrella structure limits
the ability of innovation centers to induce change. However,
the venture building model can overcome that limitation. By
launching new ventures that operate as separate entities
that are measured differently, all the while making full use
of their parent company’s competitive advantage (including
market share), and run on finding the profit delta in the
market, not sustaining business as usual. Joint ventures,
venture building: it’s the most rational model for banks to
adopt to innovate quickly,» she adds.
More generally, to bridge the gap between supply and
demand in terms of ICT – and therefore FinTech – talents,
the government of Luxembourg has launched several
initiatives to promote the living and working environment.
BEAST MAGAZINE #11