How data and technology platforms will reshape the future of financial services

The world’s top technology companies have set the standard for seamless user experiences, and this has translated to increased expectation levels in the financial services market. Today, financial brands are under increasing pressure to deliver, with 93% of consumers stating they are only likely to choose companies who can offer excellent customer service and 90% demanding an immediate response. However, the reality is that typically financial institutions buy software solutions from many different vendors, leverage a variety of tools and applications across different cloud environments and go through rigorous and time-consuming processes to stitch everything together. This fragmented approach stretches timelines unnecessarily, raises security concerns, creates operational challenges and has been a key barrier for financial services companies to deliver the type of experience consumers expect. Experian is changing this dynamic with the recent debut of its Ascend Technology Platform. “We have all become accustomed to five-star user experiences from the technologies we use every day,” says Alex Lintner, CEO of Experian Software Solutions. “For example, if you get on your iPhone, you can easily move between, or share information from, multiple apps. If you get onto your Microsoft email, you can send a PowerPoint presentation, schedule a Teams meeting or leverage other functionality. It's integrated. It’s synchronized. It’s easy. Whether the user thinks about it or not, those are examples of a truly integrated platform.