Global Finance - USA (2020-09)

Global Finance: Is the pandemic accel-

erating digital transformation in financial

services?

Dennis Gada: We are seeing digital adop-

tion proceeding at a very rapid pace. In

response to government stimulus pro-

grams in various parts of the world, banks

have had to find new, more-nimble ways

of working, with faster decision-making.

With the Paycheck Protection Program

[PPP] in the US, banks have had to deliver

services within a few weeks that would

normally take them months.

GF: Does that hold for corporate treasury?

Gada: Yes, it is because corporate finance

organizations today expect a customer

experience similar to what they get from

e-commerce. Treasury providers are devel-

oping new self-service platforms for their

clients. So, just as you can go on Amazon

and browse, you can now go to one of these

self-service treasury portals and explore. For

example, you can find products or services

to help you penetrate a new country.

We’re also seeing a lot of digitization

of the process for onboarding new cli-

ents. If it currently takes 30 to 45 days to

onboard a new client in treasury, firms are

now asking, How can automation help us

bring that down to just a few days?

GF: How is the need for digital transforma-

tion particularly urgent in finance?

Gada: Payments is one area ripe for trans-

formation. There is a need for faster, real-

time payments: especially in today’s envi-

ronment, where most transactions have

moved online. Even in stores, clients want

to have contactless payments. Another area

is the lending value chain, including mort-

gages. That area is seeing a massive digitiza-

tion, including use of AI in underwriting.

We just announced a strategic part-

nership with Vanguard to advance the

digital transformation of their defined

contribution recordkeeping business.

We also recently forged a digital trans-

formation partnership to help accelerate

Old National Bank’s growth and provide

improved services for clients and the

larger community.

GF: Has the crisis spurred financial firms

to use of AI and machine learning more?

Gada: Absolutely. Lenders can use AI algo-

rithms, for example, to identify the right

client to be contacted at the right time, in

the right way, e.g., whether by a call or

an email. We recently helped banks in the

PPP program to automate their underwrit-

ing process, using AI tools to read through

the supporting documents for loans below

a certain threshold, for example.

GF: Will AI-driven automation impact the

“head count” within financial companies?

Gada: Automating these often-tedious

processes frees up people to perform

more-valuable activities, like doing more

research, improving customer service or

engaging more with customers to sell

products and services.

GF: What’s the most common mispercep-

tion about fintechs?

Gada: One misperception is that the fin-

techs are going to come in and disrupt all

traditional financial firms. That’s not cor-

rect. Fintechs have a lot of great ideas, but

they don’t have the scale or distribution

large institutions have. Where fintechs

partnered with other financial institu-

tions, they have been able to deliver a lot

more value, as in the mortgage industry

and the digital payments sector.

GF: Globally, what regions are leading in

digital transformation?

Gada: From a payments perspective, Asia

is leading. With regard to automation,

AI, the cloud and new technologies to

modernize platforms, North America

is quite advanced. In some respects, like

the harmonization of processes across

different countries and regions, Europe

is a leader because of SEPA [the Single

Euro Payments Area] and other initiatives.

Different regions have different strengths.

GF: Will these regional differences increase

or decrease in the post-Covid world?

Gada: The pandemic situation will force

all companies to reinvent themselves,

and at a faster pace. Those parts of the

world that need to catch up will adopt

the best global standards. There will be

some technological leapfrogging, and the

regions will eventually reach similar levels

of transformation. ■

Flattening Regional

Differences, Post-Covid

Dennis Gada, senior vice president and head of Financial Services,

North America, for Infosys, spoke with Global Finance about digital

transformation in financial services—including treasury—in the midst of

the Covid-19 crisis. By Andrew Singer

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CORPORATE TREASURY SUPPLEMENT 2020 |^ Q&A