# Financial services and data – how do we meet the challenge? Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-08-31 Category: FINANCE Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/finance Meta Title: How Financial Services Organisations Can Overcome Data Meta Description: Discover strategies discussed by senior executives at the FT Live seminar on managing, analysing, and using data effectively in the financial sector. URL: https://financedigest.com/financial-services-and-data-how-do-we-meet-the-challengehtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/img0473-840-sbi-300723397-1736837963744-compressed.jpg) _By **Ephesoft**_ Financial services organisations have always understood that data is critical to success. Long before sophisticated IT existed, information was right at the heart of the sector. Details about an individual’s circumstances have always been essential in order to decide whether to lend them money, and just a few decades ago, hordes of analysts were employed to read through pages of paper reports in order to [choose the right companies to invest](https://www.financedigest.com/5-tips-choosing-right-investment-advisor.html "5 tips for choosing the right investment advisor") in. Today, electronic [data about markets](https://www.financedigest.com/interoperability-of-data-to-accelerate-the-medical-tapes-market.html "Interoperability of data to accelerate the Medical Tapes Market"), transactions and customers is available in abundance, but with it comes a new set of challenges. The question currently [facing banks](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-u-s-banks-face-trillion-dollar-reverse-repo-headache.html "Analysis: U.S. banks face trillion-dollar reverse repo headache") and insurers is how best to collect, store and manage this information while complying with privacy and money laundering regulations – and how to use it most effectively in order to benefit organisations, employees, and customers. To find an answer, Ephesoft and the [Financial Times gathered together a group of senior executives from financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/trends-in-the-financial-service-landscape-and-the-impact-on-fraud.html "Trends in the financial service landscape and the impact on fraud") organisations at a FT Live seminar. FT moderator Alan Livsey chaired a panel which included Astrid Stange, COO of AXA; James Platt, COO of Aon; Kerem Tomak, Global [Chief Analytics Officer](https://www.financedigest.com/tips-for-choosing-the-right-chief-finance-officer-for-your-business.html "Tips for Choosing the Right Chief Finance Officer for Your Business") of ING, and Ephesoft’s Senior VP Stephen Boals. The group discussed the [data challenges that face the financial](https://www.financedigest.com/data-centres-and-the-changing-financial-trading-landscape.html "Data centres and the changing financial trading landscape") services sector and shared strategies to address them and was joined by a 500-strong audience of financial services professionals who contributed some of their own experiences via digital polls. 77 per cent of this audience stated they found it quite difficult to manage, analyse and use [data in their own organisation](https://www.financedigest.com/can-financial-services-organisations-harness-data-and-bi-to-catch-up-in-the-digitalisation-race.html "Can financial services organisations harness data and BI to catch up in the digitalisation race?  "). In this article, we outline some of the strategies discussed that are helping [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/financial-services-firms-turn-to-big-data-intelligence-to-fight-fraudulent-activity-according-to-xerox-study.html "FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRMS TURN TO BIG DATA INTELLIGENCE TO FIGHT FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY ACCORDING TO XEROX STUDY") organisations to tackle this problem. **Create a data culture** The panel was in agreement that managing [data is no longer about a small](https://www.financedigest.com/reckon-introduces-link-to-bank-data-to-help-small-businesses-streamline-the-reconciliation-process.html "Reckon introduces link to bank data to help small businesses streamline the reconciliation process ") group of elite analysts or engineers. All were of the opinion that a “data culture”, as described by Astrid Stange, COO of AXA, is essential. The goal for [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/as-hackers-declare-cyberwarfare-financial-services-cannot-afford-to-be-complacent.html "As hackers declare cyberwarfare, financial services cannot afford to be complacent") organisations should be to motivate employees and customers to share information, meticulously maintain it and use it purposefully. As James Platt, the COO of Aon, stated, “We can only win the [data challenge](https://www.financedigest.com/open-data-represents-the-biggest-challenge-to-banks-in-a-generation.html "Open data represents the biggest challenge to banks in a generation") if the entire organisation follows a common strategy. Inadequate or incorrect [information can be found in many places because an individual employee has not realised how important high-quality data](https://www.financedigest.com/what-is-a-virtual-data-room-unveil-the-essential-information-here.html "What is a Virtual Data Room? Unveil the Essential Information Here!") is for the success of a company.” **Make it easy** [Putting this into practice means that you have to make it easy for your teams to enter the data](https://www.financedigest.com/5-simple-ways-to-prevent-a-data-breach-from-putting-your-accountancy-practice-out-of-business.html "5 Simple ways to prevent a data breach from putting your accountancy practice out of business") into your IT systems. The information you are receiving must be accurate, but it’s important to [avoid restricting your capacity by over-complicating your data](https://www.financedigest.com/the-race-to-avoid-data-dinosaur-extinction.html "THE RACE TO AVOID DATA DINOSAUR EXTINCTION") capture technology so that only a few specialised individuals can use it. As an example, information from customers will often arrive in a variety of different formats. A single insurance application may involve Excel files, PDF documents and emails, all of which have to be integrated into the insurance [company’s systems](https://www.financedigest.com/setsquared-companys-maths-system-adds-up-to-pitch-perfect-palace-success.html "SETsquared company’s maths system adds up to pitch-perfect palace success") in order to be assessed. It’s essential that you [process these the right way](https://www.financedigest.com/three-ways-that-female-entrepreneurs-can-supercharge-their-hiring-process.html "Three ways that female entrepreneurs can supercharge their hiring process"). Having teams of people manually reading documents and typing in the details is one solution, but it’s inefficient, slow and prone to error. On the other hand, it is also inefficient to spend thousands of pounds to programme a computer system to read one particular document that will then need completely re-programming in order to read a different document. **Choose software you can configure, not re-code** For this re [a](https://www.financedigest.com/unlocking-the-code-how-to-benefit-from-low-code-platforms.html "Unlocking the code – How to benefit from low code platforms") son, as Kerem Tomak, Global Chief Analytics office at ING, explained, a “low code” solution, which can be reconfigured, is a good option. For global organisations, even more variations will exist. “Every location has different local requirements for customer documents –a simple credit application in [Germany](https://www.financedigest.com/soccer-england-drawn-with-italy-and-germany-in-nations-league.html "Soccer-England drawn with Italy and Germany in Nations League") needs entirely different documents from the same application in Italy.” The documents themselves can also vary. Legal documents, for example, often contain patterns of imagery or watermarking that are unique to a particular jurisdiction. This can make OCR very difficult to apply, so you [need to take this into account if you’re considering](https://www.financedigest.com/7-finance-career-options-to-consider-and-what-you-need-to-know-about-each.html "7 Finance Career Options to Consider and What You Need to Know About Each") automation. **Create structure where none exists** When it [comes to analysing data](https://www.financedigest.com/real-time-connect-nyc-where-adtech-leaders-come-together-to-redefine-data-strategies.html "Real-Time Connect (NYC): Where AdTech leaders come together to redefine data strategies") to put it to work, a structure is essential. Information from every kind of document has to be [stored in databases in order to assess risk or plan investments](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-budget-fashion-chain-primark-to-invest-140-million-stg-in-stores.html "UK budget fashion chain Primark to invest 140 million stg in stores"). Astrid Stange’s approach at AXA is to focus on standardisation. She recommends an internationally uniform architecture but acknowledges that this requires a great deal of work to achieve. Stephen Boals of Ephesoft flagged up the additional [challenge that 80 per cent of data](https://www.financedigest.com/the-challenge-of-keeping-data-secure-why-in-house-security-isnt-enough.html "The challenge of keeping data secure: why in-house security isn’t enough") in companies is currently “dark” – i.e., stored in a format that is not easily accessible, so a company may not even be aware that it exists. This applies particularly to the data that has been provided by customers but not introduced into a formal structure: “one application [might have 100 other pieces of data](https://www.financedigest.com/your-money-is-safe-but-your-data-might-not-be.html "YOUR MONEY IS SAFE, BUT YOUR DATA MIGHT NOT BE") in it that would be useful. How do you make it clean and available?” Ultimately, every [organisation has to strike a balance between capturing as much data](https://www.financedigest.com/tackling-the-complexity-of-data-within-financial-organisations.html "Tackling the complexity of data within financial organisations") as possible in a structured format and ensuring its overall quality. As James Platt concluded, “It’s not about perfection, but about creating a balance. A [decision based on good, if not perfect, data](https://www.financedigest.com/wage-data-dents-dollar-recovery-before-fed-rate-decision.html "Wage data dents dollar recovery before Fed rate decision"), is still better than a decision without a data basis.” **Remember the** [customer experience](https://www.financedigest.com/curating-a-fully-contactless-customer-experience-for-payments.html "Curating A Fully Contactless Customer Experience for Payments ") Companies in the [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/what-can-we-learn-from-financial-services-security.html "What can we Learn from Financial Services Security?") sector have a unique set of challenges. Astrid Stange commented that AXA often issues contracts that are between 50 and 100 pages long, which can be confusing not only for the company’s customers but also for its employees. For this reason, AXA is [integrating essential contractual information into its customer IT systems so that service](https://www.financedigest.com/how-green-are-your-investments-why-esg-data-integration-is-key-for-financial-services-firms.html "“How green are your investments?” – Why ESG data integration is key for financial services firms") agents can access it easily. The other factor facing all the traditional large [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/boom-or-bust-how-the-financial-services-sector-is-coping.html " Boom or Bust: how the financial services sector is coping") organisations is the need to compete with the new fintechs built with remote access in mind and offering their customers instant access to data regardless of their location and device. Bringing cloud technology to the forefront is now non-negotiable. **Getting everyone on the same side** The overarching conclusion from the webinar was that the concept of “data culture” is essential. Creating this is not easy, but with regular training throughout the organisation with a focus on the senior team it is an achievable goal. It is this partnership between employees and technology that will enable [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/how-big-data-is-sending-shockwaves-through-the-financial-services-sector.html "How big data is sending shockwaves through the financial services sector") organisations to reach their potential. Change management is critical to bringing employees together. As Astrid Stange concluded, “the efficient use of information depends on people.” --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---