How Technology Can Ensure Fairness and Transparency in Financial Services

With the increasing digitization of financial services, it’s understandable that some customers might be concerned about the security of their money. While in many ways, financial transactions are often more secure than ever, there is also an unknown stemming from malicious online threats and what retailers are given access to.

Is this a problem that can be solved with even more technology? Potentially – so long as that technology is geared towards developing a more transparent system. In that case, customer trust in online transactions might increase, which is something businesses too can benefit from.

Open Banking

For businesses, using an open banking API platform can carry a lot of advantages. Not only are you streamlining the process and given a greater insight into the customer data that comes with that – how audience spending relates to your business operations and what you can then do to improve your services – but you might have to spend less than you would on older frameworks. That’s all well and good for the business, but what does it mean for the customer? How can open banking increase transparency and trust on their behalf?

Some customers might find that the greater degree of spending information that they gain from open banking platforms can help them to better adjust their use of finances. Being able to personalize their financial experience further through this information might be incentive enough to opt for this kind of system.

Proper Security Measures

Many customers might also be taking the modern state of the internet for granted. Due to the sheer amount of use that it sees, it’s easy to neglect the fact that there are threats looming around every corner. While it’s normal to hear about these threats in the news – one off attacks or scams – that might not prepare the individual for the possibility that they’ll be the target.

While it’s not a specific technology, doing what they can to brush up on basic online safety can prevent the likelihood of themselves falling prey to something easily avoidable. Beyond that, though, suitably effective security can offer some reassurances – as can payment gateways that are able to assure users that their financial information will be securely protected.

Accountability

While social media is host to a wide range of issues from misinformation to harrassment, the basic concept of providing a way for the masses of populace to engage in discourse can be helpful in situations such as these. If there is a service that you are thinking of using online, there are multiple ways to check if it’s reliable. Online reviews can often be a good judge of how others have fared with their services in the past, but even searching the company name online can yield prior news stories or incidents that might simply give you an idea of what to expect. Even then, if nothing comes up, it’s important that you’re able to judge for yourself what makes a company trustworthy so that you can avoid inputting financial information somewhere you shouldn’t.