India’s banking and securities sector is expected to continue to invest in digital business, with spends estimated to grow 9.1% to $11 billion in 2020, according to United States-headquartered multinational IT consultancy firm Gartner, Inc. Banking and securities organisations are investing in emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to create new product offerings and also to respond to evolving customer demands. Respondents to the 2019 global Gartner CIO Survey identified AI and machine learning as the leading game changing technologies at 27%, followed by data analytics, including predictive analytics, at 20%. “CIOs (chief information officers) in this sector continue to adopt digital technologies that will improve existing products and services. Technologies such as biometric authentication, machine learning and chatbots are increasingly preferred by CIOs to deliver an enhanced user experience and enable digitalisation of the sector,” said Merji. According to Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Digital Banking Transformation 2019, biometric technology will impact up to 20% of banking organisations in the next two to five years. “In India, biometric technology adoption saw a boost after the introduction of Aadhaar, a unique 12-digit identification number that links citizens’ bank accounts to their biometric data and mobile numbers,” said Merji.

(Economic Times)