The financial services sector is a powerful and important industry that impacts everyone. It encompasses everything from credit card companies, banks and mortgage lenders to securities brokers, private equity firms and Wall Street investment banking. The practices, regulations and standards that this industry adopts influence the way that companies conduct their own business, as well as the ways that consumers manage their personal finances.
Whether you’re looking to invest in the stock market, save for retirement, purchase a home or protect your health and property, financial services are essential to help make those transactions happen. However, not everyone understands the role that the industry plays, which can lead to confusion and frustration with their own money management skills. A healthy financial services industry provides people with the funding they need to buy a house, car or other large purchases, helps individuals save for future expenses and allows businesses to expand.
A healthy financial services industry also employs millions of people with secure and lucrative careers. The sector provides jobs for people in every walk of life and offers a variety of career paths for professionals with different levels of education. While a degree is helpful for those who want to move up the ladder, it’s not always necessary for some positions, such as customer service or entry-level sales.
There are many different types of financial services, including the central bank; depository organizations (banks, building societies or mortgage banks and companies); credit unions or credit cooperatives; credit-card companies; insurance companies; and all other institutions engaged in financing activities or in the provision of general financial utilities. In addition to these core entities, the sector comprises a multitude of intermediaries that act as aggregators or distributors of financial products and services such as investment funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), brokerage services, pawnbrokers, leasing companies and hire purchase companies.
Keeping up with the latest changes in the financial services industry can be challenging. For example, technology is moving faster than the speed at which most financial institutions can adapt their existing digital offerings to match customer expectations. And new players are entering the space, further putting pressure on established institutions to stay competitive.
One way that companies can keep up with the changing pace of the industry is by leveraging their own data to provide real-time predictions and recommendations to their customers. Salesforce customer Spar Nord, for example, utilised their own customer and product data to create an AI-powered financial services solution called Einstein.
The system uses artificial intelligence to identify patterns and assess risk, which gives lenders a more accurate picture of an applicant’s creditworthiness. It can also be used to identify fraudulent activity and reduce the risk of identity theft and unauthorized access to financial accounts. The system enables customers to use biometric authentication such as fingerprint or facial recognition to verify their identity and protect against fraud. These kinds of advancements are helping to modernize the financial services industry and improve its overall security.