For those of us that are regulars at fintech and artificial intelligence (AI) conferences and follow the development and innovation around AI, virtual financial assistants (VFAs) have gotten a lot of attention at these events for a few years now. But lately it seems that VFAs might be becoming old news -- conferences have started moving onto other topics after focusing on conversational AI for several years in a row. So the questions many people have are: "What's taking so long? Why doesn't my bank have one yet?" The hype around VFAs and their benefits the last few years may seem new but it is not, it just got louder.

AI for Longevity has more potential to increase healthy Longevity in the short term than any other sector. The application of AI for Longevity will bring the greatest real-world benefits and will be the main driver of progress in the widespread extension of healthy Longevity. The global spending power of people aged 60 and over is anticipated to reach $15 trillion annually by 2020. The Longevity industry will dwarf all other industries in both size and market capitalization, reshape the global financial system, and disrupt the business models of pension funds, insurance companies, investment banks, and entire national economies. Longevity has become a recurring topic in analytical reports from leading financial institutions such as CitiBank, UBS Group, Julius Baer, and Barclays.

AI for Longevity has more potential to increase healthy Longevity in the short term than any other sector. The application of AI for Longevity will bring the greatest real-world benefits and will be the main driver of progress in the widespread extension of healthy Longevity. The global spending power of people aged 60 and over is anticipated to reach $15 trillion annually by 2020. The Longevity industry will dwarf all other industries in both size and market capitalization, reshape the global financial system, and disrupt the business models of pension funds, insurance companies, investment banks, and entire national economies. Longevity has become a recurring topic in analytical reports from leading financial institutions such as CitiBank, UBS Group, Julius Baer, and Barclays.

AI for Longevity has more potential to increase healthy Longevity in the short term than any other sector. The application of AI for Longevity will bring the greatest real-world benefits and will be the main driver of progress in the widespread extension of healthy Longevity. The global spending power of people aged 60 and over is anticipated to reach $15 trillion annually by 2020. The Longevity industry will dwarf all other industries in both size and market capitalization, reshape the global financial system, and disrupt the business models of pension funds, insurance companies, investment banks, and entire national economies. Longevity has become a recurring topic in analytical reports from leading financial institutions such as CitiBank, UBS Group, Julius Baer, and Barclays.

Fifteen fintechs have secured funding to develop innovative solutions that use open banking to transform how the nation manages its finances. The 15 finalists' ideas offer a range of services, from a digital debt adviser and a personal finance chatbot, to a solution that prevents people from going into their overdrafts, a fraud prevention tool, and even a tool to make it easier to get a mortgage. An AI assistant with a sense of humour which helps Gen Z/ Millennials budget, save and track their spending. "We are delighted to be finalists in the Open Up 2020 Challenge. Cleo is here to make money management less elitist, more accessible and informative – transforming the'money thing' into something radically different. Financial advice and education is missing from retail banking, and from Government. Our aim is to give people the confidence to discuss their finances the same way they share gym habits or how they have their coffee, and we know when we have won when it's finally normal to talk about money."

Editor's Note: See Pramod's talk "Transaction Data Enrichment and Alternative Data: An Opportunity for Business Growth and Risk Mitigation" at ODSC West 2019. In a recent financial wellness survey of American adults, 58% of respondents said they did not have the financial freedom to enjoy life. Less than half said they were confident in their ability to absorb an unforeseen financial emergency. Needless to say, Americans have room to grow when it comes to financial wellness. By enriching a consumer's transaction data, banks can demystify data, making it easier for consumers to understand their own spending and saving patterns.

The past few years have been a race for relevance for wealth managers, with the financial services sector undergoing massive changes. Customer expectations, regulatory developments and the increasing impact of technologies are driving a paradigm shift in the market. Therefore wealth management organizations are assessing their growth strategies and identifying ways to capitalize through new opportunities such as deployment of Artificial Intelligent (AI) led solutions. There has also been a constant transformation in investment patterns, customer awareness and subsequently customer expectations from wealth managers in the Indian market. For instance, a lot of Indian investors are now relooking at their investment priorities, with many of them willing to consider beyond traditional financial asset classes such as Fixed Deposits, gold and assets --to more sophisticated instruments of investment.

Technology is increasingly integrated into our day-to-day activities, from GPS to services like Amazon Alexa and Google Now that delight us with personalized experiences powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Let's face it, we're coming to expect that kind of service from all our digital providers. Many financial institutions, in contrast with tech companies, have taken a more conservative stance to powering their digital banking experiences. It's understandable--there are greater repercussions to offering wrong financial predictions than getting the wrong topping on the pizza. The challenge for banks is that forward-looking insights and personalized guidance are becoming a prerequisite to conducting digital business with consumers.