by Nick Pike, VP UK and Ireland, OutSystems

Just like business leaders in almost every industry, if you’re a decision-maker in financial services, it’s likely you’re turning to digitisation to execute on your strategies. Mobilising business processes improves customer satisfaction and response time. Mobility boosts employee productivity. And, mobile apps can increase competitive advantage. With those kinds of benefits, it’s no wonder your financial services organisation is keen to find solutions that enable them to go mobile faster.

It’s no secret that the financial services sector is on the path to becoming a digital industry. Yet, the speed and extent of the transition is slow. The Financial Conduct Authority’s 2015/2016 Business Plan identified technology as one of four top priority areas. Many companies are proceeding cautiously with new technology, but that can come at a price. It opens the door to disruptive newcomers, who are happy to use technology to attract a younger audience that wants speed and apps that are easy to use.  In fact, a 2017report found that more than 40% of financial services businesses are worried about how they’re going to appeal to their new generation of customers. To adapt to the new demands of the marketplace, it’s time to throw caution to the winds.

What’s holding financial services back? Older IT infrastructure, for one. Adding new software to existing systems isn’t going to work in the long run. The systems can’t handle it. However, going digital isn’t only about what’s within. It’s also about delighting customers. Customers are spoiled. They expect awesome, eye-catching and smooth experiences. Oh, and did I mention they want it all now?

This is where low-code solutions really prove their worth. With low-code, businesses deliver apps and software on demand, responding to specific requirements. A great example of this comes from our work with global professional services firm Deloitte. Deloitte differentiated itself in their highly competitive market by focusing on services. Recently, reducing and eliminating conduct risk is at the top of their agenda, along with responding to regulators. High profile scandals made the problem a priority.

Identifying conduct risk is generally done manually. Firms spend considerable time reviewing help desk calls from hundreds of thousands of customers. The costs are considerable. OutSystems changed that for Deloitte and a client.

Deloitte used OutSystems to develop its first artificial intelligence app while competing for the business from a large life insurer. And they did it with a hackathon. The result was BEAT, short for “Behavioural and Emotional Analytics Tool.” With BEAT, Deloitte and its client prevent the fraudulent sale of insurance to customers. Insurers listen to calls from a call centre and identify which segments pose a risk based on machine learning and AI algorithms. Because the app was developed visually, the potential clients contributed design ideas. Deloitte won the bid.

Mobilising processes improves bottom lines and delights customers. As a result, financial services firms can compete with fast-moving and disruptive industry newcomers. And, when these new competitors raise the bar time and time again, traditional firms who use low-code technology will be ready.