SINGAPORE-HEADQUARTERED UNO Digital Bank and Trusting Social, an artificial intelligence (AI) fintech company, recently announced a strategic partnership to unlock credit access to Filipino consumers. By offering a frictionless and friendly lending experience, the partnership aims to empower traditionally underserved citizens and bring them into the formal financial ecosystem. The strategic partnership would leverage Trusting Social's expertise in AI-led customer onboarding solutions, including credit scoring. UNO's new digital banking platform could help build a more financially inclusive banking landscape in the Philippines. Manish Bhai, chief executive, UNO Digital Bank discussed with The Manila Times how the partnership with Trusting Social would allow unbanked Filipinos access to formal lending services. The Manila Times (TMT): Please describe the business of UNO Digital Bank and its presence in the Philippines (if any).

The Fintech industry's rapid growth and use of new technologies to meet the rise in demand for online services has brought with it increased levels of cyber crime. Criminals have taken advantage of the benefits digital banks offer to access money, launder illicit money and fund terrorism worldwide. The growth in technology for blockchain and digital payments provides new opportunities for criminals to launder funds at faster speeds and larger scales than they might have been able to previously. According to UK Finance, criminals stole a total of £753.9 million through fraud in the first half of 2021, an increase of 30% compared to H1 2020. With the huge amounts of data that Fintechs process, it's no mean feat to detect potential money laundering activities using manual processes.

Starling technology works in a hybrid pattern from home and one of our three offices. We're open to applications from across the UK but our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance to either our London, Southampton or Cardiff office, so that when we're able to see each other and collaborate in person again, we're ready to go! We are a leading digital bank on a mission to disrupt the banking industry. We've built an app with smart money management tools to help our customers live a healthier financial life. We also offer groundbreaking B2B banking and payments services.

The digital bank founded by Prof. Amnon Shashua, among the founders of the self-driving auto-tech company Mobileye, officially began operations on Sunday, promising to shake up the Israeli banking sector and inject badly needed competition. First Digital Bank, Israel's first new banking institution in 43 years, aims to use artificial intelligence and other technology to create a personal ambiance without the actual human contact that comes with neighborhood branches. "Netflix killed off Blockbuster, Spotify disrupted the music industry and Tesla has left Ford and Mitsubishi in the dust. Banking is one of the few industries that hasn't undergone a revolution. Big, long-standing names control the market with too little competition and offer exactly the same products," said First Digital Bank's CEO, Gal Bar-Dea.

Is it surprising to know that 55 percent of legacy financial institutions (FIs) report lacking maturity in core systems? Or that, on average, 15 percent of an FI's annual operating costs go toward maintaining core banking systems that are outmoded? "Migrating to cloud- and AI-based solutions could help FIs handle growing calls for faster banking tools during the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent trends show they are beginning to do so," according to PYMNTS' June 2020 Digital Banks And The Power Of The Cloud Tracker done in collaboration with NuoDB. "Banks are spending approximately 15 percent of their yearly operating budgets on technology upgrades, according to one study, and there has been an increase in partnerships between third-party cloud technology providers and global FIs eager to enhance their online platforms. Many of these legacy banks are also planning to integrate AI [artificial intelligence] tools, but their reliance on outdated infrastructure could be hindering their cloud migration plans. These FIs will have to overcome such frictions to keep pace with competitors," the new Tracker states.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was formed with the aim of fostering economic growth in some of the poorest regions in the world. With that as its charter, ADB's CIO from the organisation's office of information systems and technology, Shirin Hamid, said it's difficult to compare ADB to the likes of other banks when talking about digital transformation. "DBS for example in Singapore has basically positioned itself as a digital bank, but as a development bank, where our partners and what we deliver is on the ground with countries that are from different landscapes -- we have middle income and the least developing countries -- are they ready for a bank like us to be a digital bank?," she said, speaking at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo on the Gold Coast last week. You can download all of the articles in this special report in one PDF (free registration required). Hamid said she recently had a conversation with ADB's vice president of finance and risk management centred on determining if ADB was ready to be a digital bank.

In 1981, Bill Gates said "640KB will be enough for anybody". Surpisingly, it was hard even then, to imagine where we would be today; in a sea of data. Big data is fuelling the world of business, driving human decision making and building machine learning systems which have become essential components to success in the growing sector of digital banking, particularly in Monzo and Revolut. Big Data, as the name suggests, provides 1000's of metrics which inform many real decisions, so how has Data ensured the continuing success at these innovative companies? Monzo, founded in 2015 by 5 young men who had previously worked for Starling Bank provided a truly unique banking experience than any on the market at the time.

Big banks and other bill providers have earned big profits for many years from customers who don't examine their payments or search for better deals. However, digital banks -- also known as neobanks and smartbanks -- are set to turn that strategy on its head by automatically finding savings and prompting customers to act. Financial technology infrastructure provider Frankie Financial's CEO, Simon Costello, said consumers would benefit through artificial intelligence and "shiny new tech" providing automatic recommendations and switching. Don't be afraid of the rise of robots to help in managing your bills and bank accounts.Source:Supplied "Neobanks will be able to spot your providers in your direct debits, let you know how much you would save if you switched providers and then offer a single-click switch," he said. "This is very powerful functionality that has the potential to change the way consumers compare, select and change providers not just across the energy sector, but financial, insurance, and health sectors as well."

Bradesco expects artificial intelligence will drive a significant increase in sales via digital channels.Bradesco Brazil's second-largest private bank Bradesco will ramp up its efforts around artificial intelligence (AI) to boost sales, improve customer experience and reduce operating costs in 2019. The bank, which has a portfolio of over 71 million customers, has been working on a platform dubbed Bradesco Artificial Intelligence (BIA) over the last four years. BIA's capabilities translate into an improved customer experience across the bank's digital channels - especially the app, which today accounts for 60% of customer interactions with the bank. Currently, 90% of the bank's services are already available via the app, but sales made via mobile currently represents about 20-30% of the overall business volume. We want to increase sales in that channel," says Mauricio Minas, executive vice president at the bank, adding that the goal is to increase mobile sales to 50% this year. "A few years ago we invested in the idea that BIA would be the engine of a substantial increase in Bradesco's customer value perception.

Bradesco expects artificial intelligence will drive a significant increase in sales via digital channels.Bradesco Brazil's second-largest private bank Bradesco will ramp up its efforts around artificial intelligence (AI) to boost sales, improve customer experience and reduce operating costs in 2019. The bank, which has a portfolio of over 71 million customers, has been working on a platform dubbed Bradesco Artificial Intelligence (BIA) over the last four years. BIA's capabilities translate into an improved customer experience across the bank's digital channels – especially the app, which today accounts for 60% of customer interactions with the bank. Currently, 90% of the bank's services are already available via the app, but sales made via mobile currently represents about 20-30% of the overall business volume. We want to increase sales in that channel," says Mauricio Minas, executive vice president at the bank, adding that the goal is to increase mobile sales to 50% this year. "A few years ago we invested in the idea that BIA would be the engine of a substantial increase in Bradesco's customer value perception.