Mobile technology - Into the future
The financial services industry has not been unaffected by the rapid changes in technology. Financial advisors need to embrace these changes and advancements to avoid being left behind.
Our world is fast-changing. A decade ago digital cameras didn’t exist, we had never heard of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, downloading music via the net was incomprehensible and words such as ‘e-books’ and ‘Kindle’ did not exist in our vocabulary.
The new consumer
As a result of these technological advances, today’s consumers are very different to consumers ten years ago.
Fast, easy access to information ensures that clients now have the world of information at their very fingertips. The plethora of financial websites and consumer forums means that clients are also better informed, and more demanding, than ever before.This includes the growing demand for fast access to simple, relevant information from service providers in every aspect of their lives, and most certainly when it comes to their finances and their investments.
The technological landscape
South Africa has more than 40 million cellphone users who are increasingly comfortable with a wide range of cellphone functions. Mobile banking is now a well-established part of their everyday lives.
The trend is now turning towards investments - with clients expecting an interactive, real-time relationship with a financial institution.
Bear in mind that these 40 million users, comfortable with sophisticated mobile banking systems, include your clients. The same standard of service delivered by banks and other service providers, is now also expected from advisors.
Mobile offices
Business is also becoming less office-bound. Technology has made traditional office hours redundant and ensures that being out of the office doesn’t mean being out of touch with clients. This makes access to information outside of the office is ever-important.
Get with it!
For these reasons, it is imperative for advisors to embrace technology and work with it, not against it. If the right technology is applied to the benefit of the specific needs of advisors, the result is streamlined processes, reduced overhead costs and easier client interactions.
The future is here
Perhaps as amazing now as digital photography, instant music and constant social interaction may have seemed ten years ago, new cellphone technologies are changing the way we work and interact.
As just one example, cellphone applications that enable intermediaries and clients to view their full investment portfolio 24 hours a day, 365 days a year will revolutionise the client-advisor interaction.
Advisors can respond to their clients’ demands for instant information by, for example, checking clients’ investment balances, viewing asset allocation and fund allocation charts, and emailing statements to clients from their cellphones. Clients can directly access their investments statements and information via their cellphones.
The FAIS Act necessitates regular client consultations and interactions. This kind of ready access to information is critical to meet this and other regulatory requirements.
