Though applying cutting edge technologies are on unprecedented rise in banking industry, security issues are cropping up more and more. Banks are becoming vulnerable to increased frauds and cyber-attacks.  This can negatively hamper the image of the bank in the minds of its customers.

To counteract this, banks have developed various analytics tools. But, they are rule based that depend on arbitrary thresholds to trigger alerts for potential frauds. The flip side here is that it may generate false positives. These can cause deep frustrations among honest customers who are falsely blocked for fraud or are constantly asked to undergo strict security procedures.

 A new type of analytics tool has been developed to solve this problem. The new tool is called Adaptive Behavioral Analytics. It produces an accurate result that reduces false positives. Unlike rule based analytics, Adaptive Behavioral Analytics combine customer information to create a behavioral profile at an individual level. This gives a clear picture about the customer and generates an alert if there is any deviation from typical behavior spotted in real time. Interested to know more?

Read at http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2014/May/16/and-now-for-some-good-banking-news.html  for more details on how this new Analytics tool is helping banks to detect and fight fraud.

Neural Network is the buzzword in Financial Analytics nowadays. You may be thinking now 'what is a neural network?' Well, Neural Network is a state - of - the - art trainable algorithm which is emulated to function like a human brain. Speaking in terms of stock markets, you can train the algorithm with some historical stock market data and the algorithm will predict the pattern for you.

As forecasting of stock markets, currency markets and other markets are becoming increasingly difficult, neural network is gaining prominence among traders to predict where markets are heading in the near future. Certainly, there are reasons for it. As generation is progressing at a fast pace, people are adopting technologies quickly. The usage of Neural Network has amplified because of the availability of several open source software which have the capability to form a neural net framework. To enhance your shareholder wealth maximization, it is desirable that you must be equipped with the knowledge of how neural network is applied in forecasting markets. Though, as a thumb rule you must remember that no forecasting is accurate, but still this neural network can give some valuable insights.

Wondering how to go about it? Read at http://www.geocities.ws/francorbusetti/KaastraArticle.pdf to know how a neural network is designed for forecasting financial time series data.

Private banking in Asia-Pacific is a dynamic and evolving market with regional variations in regulations and requirements. As wealth management continues to grow with more opportunities in the mass affluent market, private banks will need to rely on technology to handle the increased volume. In addition, private banks are also dedicating more resources and budget on technology solutions to support and ensure compliance with regulation changes. While there is potential for the convergence of private banking and asset management, it is still important that the technology platform can deliver a personalised client experience as wealth management is still predominantly a relationship-based business, especially so in Asia-Pacific.

Together with panellists from Bank Julius Baer and Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, investment management solution provider Charles River has drawn some key conclusions about the industry in the Asia-Pacific region during Private Banking Asia 2014 event, held on March 19th and 20th in Singapore. To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140410005052/en/Charles-River-Discusses-Increasing-Role-Technology-Wealth#.U0dzt1VgXgw

Most banks nowadays implement Analytics intensively to gain insights from their customers’ data. By generating reports with the help of queries and analytical tools, questions are answered for better decision makings. But still formulating and testing the hypotheses, tuning the model and tweaking the data structures are being done manually. Though much of the work is done by computers, the main part, which is thinking requires human intervention.

But, all these are set to change with the help of Cognitive Computing and Analytics. So, what is cognitive computing? Cognitive computing is the ability to master natural language processing and draw deductions that are not typically possible.

To provide impetus to the growth of its products and services, Global financial services firm DBS Bank has redefined its financial operations with the power of Cognitive Computing and Analytics and they are bearing fruits from it. Read more at http://www.baselinemag.com/analytics-big-data/bank-turns-to-cognitive-computing-and-analytics.html  on how they are doing so.

In order to become premier international financial company in the next millennium, Citibank, a Citigroup company, implemented quality initiatives to provide quick customer service anywhere in the world. They took the challenge of implementing Six Sigma to improve customer satisfaction by using methodologies like cycle time reduction (CTR), coupled with detection of defects using Six Sigma methods which resulted in significant improvements in process timeline, cash management and customer loyalty and satisfaction. To read more about this aspect please visit Rochelle Rucker’s (a freelance writer and publicist for Motivators Inc) article link as given below.

http://www.qualitydigest.com/dec99/html/citibank.html

Data analysis is an important part of BFSI organisations. It helps to manage huge customer database of the organisations. It also automates the day-to-day transaction process. An article by Mohan Jayaraman, Managing Director of Experian Credit Information Company of India Pvt. Ltd. and Country Manager of Experian India describes that it is necessary to bridge the gap between information and its effective usage. For this, data analytics solution requires ability to manage and draw interferences from large amounts of data.

 For more information, please go through: http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/perspective/287791/indian-banks-improve-customer-lifecycle-analytics?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-indian-banks-can-improve-the-customer-lifecycle-by-using-data-analytics

With the advancement of new technologies, big data and internet, young professionals are getting opportunities for new career options. With the growth of facebook and twitter, different organisations of BFSI sector require more professionals for their work like collecting data, prediction and forecasting revenue. So doors for new jobs are being opened in front of the young pool of talents.

For more information, please go through: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/rise-in-demand-for-social-media-experts-in-fmcg-bfsi-pharma-companies/articleshow/29500508.cms

In the recent years, social media has become a place where emotional roller coaster of the stock markets can be captured. How the Twitter and Facebook users are reacting to different business news can foretell where the index is heading. Knowing this information can help the companies in predicting their market price, top line, etc.

To know more on how social media can help in predicting in stock prices read http://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/031814/can-tweets-and-facebook-posts-predict-stock-behavior-and-rt-if-you-think-so.asp .

Big Data was the talk of the town in 2013 and the trend is likely to continue in 2014 as well. Though Big Data has been used in the finance domain earlier, it has been limited.But this year it is expected to take a giant leap in terms of its applicability.

Using the power of social media and analyzing the vast amounts of data generated by them, financial companies can directly interact with their retail clients to provide them with an insight to the customers’ experience. Finance sector being data-centric, Cloud technology will help companies store large volumes of data which was otherwise not feasible given the cost and technological setup constraints. The sophisticated mobile technology will help in generating more data from the customers within an exceptionally short span of time. And finally, Analytics will do the most interesting part – forecasting and predicting results with the help of Predictive Modeling and beyond. Together, the Social, Cloud, Mobile and Analytics (SMAC) will close in and will redefine the financial sector operations.

Additionally, Big Data and Analytics will be used more and more in solving different financial cases and also studying investment practices with the help of Semantic Analytics.

 For more information,read http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/data-management/big-data-use-cases-across-financial-serv/240165075 to know on how Big Data is about to change the Financial world.

The main cause of 2007-2009 recession was bursting of real estate bubble. But it was the banking crisis which led the U.S. economy to a far worst situation. Now the key question is whether banking industry is able to solve their problems. Losses suffered by banks created a number of fundamental problems in the industry. An article by Michael Sivy, a chartered financial analyst and a former securities analyst for an independent stock research firm, speaks about the needs to be addressed to get financial system back to full strength.

For more information, please go through: http://business.time.com/2013/02/05/has-the-banking-industry-really-been-fixed/

The international banking and financial sector had gone through a major turmoil in terms of mergers and acquisitions. Deregulation has been the main driver, through three major routes - breakage of interest rate controls, removal of barriers between banks and other financial institutions and lowering of entry barriers. The article by Srinivasan R., an associate professor in the Corporate Strategy and Policy Area at IIM Bangalore, speaks about the benefits and disadvantages of post 2000 mergers and acquisitions in India.

For more information, please go through: http://tejas.iimb.ac.in/articles/01.php

Today, technology is an integral part of any business looking for sustainable growth. Banking sector is no different. Handling branches is an important day-to-day operation and hence, banks need to deploy adequate resources for the same. From simplifying payments with person-to-person transfers to eliminating the need for passwords with voice recognition software, technology is revolutionizing how account holders manage their money. The result is that bank branches are looking less crowded.

To read more, visit:

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/4-ways-tech-will-change-your-bank-branch-cm329072

FICO, a predictive analytics and decision management software company, has done a global survey which revealed that 55% of customers want insurance renewal reminder more frequently through mail and Smartphone.

For more information, please go through: http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140312-906735.html

Advanced analytics is an opportunity to redefine the banking sector. Some banks will seize that opportunity and will be able to explore the market & gain significant market share. Just like, some banks had initiated providing ATMs & internet services to customers, in order to truly create a differentiated position for themselves, enabling them to achieve competitive advantage over the rest.

Innovators are using big data and analytics to sharpen risk assessment and drive revenue. Banks who are implementing data analytics will be in an advantageous position for some period of time, while other banks playing catch up. So there’s an opportunity to make some smart, targeted investments. If you want to sustain your banking business in today’s volatile market, Think big, Think innovation! Think analytics!

To Read more, Visit......

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/how_advanced_analytics_are_redefining_banking

Cloud is a buzzword that has been taking circles in the IT world for the past few years. Today, every organization demands more software deployment and significant reduction in the response time. To achieve improvement in efficiency and to utilize the resources better, cloud is the sure shot answer.  Cloud infrastructure is also improving its efficiency, availability and security. People who were looking at cloud with suspicion, are now preparing themselves to adopt the technology in a large scale. Cloud is definitely here to stay. There are 3 types of cloud services in offer, namely public, private and hybrid. In the BFSI sector, as data security is one of the core issues, the tendency towards private cloud preference is obvious.

Johnson K Jose, Deputy General Manager, IT Department, Federal Bank, talks about the benefits of adopting cloud model & preference for private cloud in BFSI sector. To read about his views, visit the following link:

http://ibm.informationweek.in/interviews/item/245-private-cloud-is-the-preferred-flavor-in-the-bfsi-segment.html