Another year (nearly) over

It was all change at IBS Journal and IBS Intelligence this year. I joined as Senior Editor in February (having previously been Group Editor of rival banking technology title, FStech). Just in case you missed my debut Editor’s Letter, which can be found in the March issue of IBS Journal, I have almost 20 years of experience in journalism, during which time I have held senior editorial positions at and contributed to a number of business and technology-related publications. At FStech, I covered various financial sector technology topics, and my main areas of expertise include FinTech, core banking systems, Bitcoin and the blockchain, the European, US and Australian retail banking sectors, mobile payments and challenger banks.

As I’m sure you’re aware by now, IBS Intelligence has become a division of Cedar Management Consulting International, a leading global management and technology consulting practice. So, new owners, new Senior Editor, new Senior Reporter (congrats to Alex Hamilton who was recently promoted from the position of Reporter) and also this year IBS Journal underwent a major redesign. Out went the front cover stories, replaced by a more modern take on the magazine’s contents. And in came a number of new sections, with an increased focus on FinTech, including Startup of the Month (which has proved to be particularly popular), The Big Interview, Who’s Been Saying What? and The Month in Numbers. Some of our rivals have ditched their printed editions, but here at IBS Intelligence the magazine continues to be a major part of who we are.

Why banks need consumers to detect imposters

In the first half of 2016 alone, there were more than one million incidents of financial fraud, an increase of 53 per cent on the same period last year; with identity fraud against individuals costing an estimated five billion pounds last year.

Identity fraud occurs when an imposter pretends to be someone else. To prevent this, banks ask customers for passwords, but judging from the fraud figures, this isn’t working and things are getting worse. The reason is simple: data cannot differentiate. A password provided by the true customer is exactly the same when that same password is provided by an impostor.

Bank Heists for the Digital Age

As the line between the virtual and real criminal world grows ever murkier, it’s not surprising online bank robbers are using the anonymity afforded by cyberspace to infiltrate the real world and get their hands on physical cash.

At the same time, within the online world, criminals are diversifying, borrowing each other’s methods and innovating on a new level to fulfil their demands.

Rationalising Global Connections to Drive Costs Down, Visibility Up

Over the past fifteen years, investment banks have seen a massive expansion in global connectivity, encompassing hundreds of links to exchanges and buy side clients as well as infrastructure to backup sites.

This complex connectivity infrastructure is business critical, delivering reliable resiliency, but is also very expensive, from hardware to leased lines and exchange memberships. There is, without doubt, both significant duplication and under-utilisation of these key resources.

Customer experience in fintech land

My main thesis for the financial services industry is that finserv = fintech. That is, all participants will have to behave like tech companies and focus on technology, data and customer experience.

Talking about customer experience I had a poor one recently with the bank I bank with – I wish this bank no ill will, yet I would love for them to become service-oriented.

Agile banking needs a new core

If you had the chance to design a bank from scratch using only one system, what would it look like?

When we started to run our banking services, we had a look at the banking value chain. Banks produce services directly for clients 'at the front'. Less visible and much more important: 'in the back', banks provide complex technical infrastructure for processing, accounting and regulatory tasks. At the front, there’s plenty of new competition. Fintech start-ups usually pick cherries from the front-end banking businesses. But they still rely on crucial processes from the old banking infrastructure.

This article originally appeared on JAXenter.com