Technology is akin to Porthos, the fearless musketeer who is eager to try new ways for a better future. In a similar vein, Technology presents us opportunities to revitalise Finance: the opportunity to enhance customer experience; the opportunity to strengthen risk management; and the opportunity to improve cost efficiency. Let me elaborate on each of these opportunities. First, enhancing customer experience. This has become a critical success factor in many industries, including finance. Why? Basically, technology firms have reshaped the way businesses interact with customers. They have empowered customers and set higher bars for customer satisfaction. Whether they are established Big Tech firms or small FinTech start-ups, they pose a competitive challenge to financial institutions. If I have to name one thing these technology firms do very well, much better than financial institutions, it would be that they are obsessively customer-centric. Tech firms embed themselves in the customer journey and use data analytics to deeply understand customer needs. They then provide end-to-end solutions, often customised to individual circumstances. They have agile IT systems, efficient processes, and a culture that emphasises speed. Essentially, tech firms think of themselves not as being in a particular industry, but as platforms, upon which they provide access to the services their customers need. Traditional banks tend to be largely product-centric. The credit card division tries to sell you unsecured credit, the wealth management division tries to sell you mutual funds, the lending division tries to sell you a mortgage.
Last year, AFIN launched the API eXchange – the world’s first cross-border, open architecture platform to enhance financial inclusion. The API eXchange is a cloud-based platform that does two things: It is a marketplace, enabling financial institutions to discover and connect with FinTech partners through APIs on a globally curated platform. It also provides a sandbox environment for financial institutions and FinTech firms to design and test cross-border solutions. I have spoken so far of how the two musketeers – Finance and Technology – can and must come together to bring value and convenience to customers. But for consumers to be part of this ecosystem, there needs to be Trust – the third musketeer. Trust – the Musketeer who Binds Consumers to Finance Trust is similar to Aramis, the third musketeer who is faithful and values friendship. Trust is a key attribute for the success of a financial ecosystem. It is a shared responsibility among all the actors in the ecosystem. Banks in particular must be trustworthy so that customers have faith that their money and 7 / 10  BIS central bankers' speeches  data are safe with them. As Finance adopts more Technology, it must pay close attention to three risks, so as to maintain the Trust of consumers. First, cyber risk. As more financial services move online and collaboration among banks and technology companies becomes more pervasive, a growing risk that financial institutions are facing is in cyber space. The frequency, scale, and complexity of cyber-attacks are mounting.