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It may be premature and, as some critics claim, presumptuous, to readily imagine a world where ‘cognitive consonance’ of non-organic, silicon-based entities blurs the lines of reality as we currently (and organically) understand it. That said, it is not difficult to objectively view and perhaps embrace the reality of AI changing the fundamental building blocks of modern economy, as we know it.

Of the several significant innovations in the financial services universe, one key technology innovation has been the robotized financial advisor aka the robo-advisor.

It is perhaps an overwrought cliché these days to begin all serious contemplation through the digital lens. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of the BFSI sector, which has seen it’s fair share of upheavals in the last several months. Most notably (and perhaps tellingly), ‘Digital’ Fraud and Risk Management features high on the agenda of bank boards, as they grapple with new threats and new realities everyday.

Fintech has brought unprecedented disruption in the financial services ecosystem. While traditionally, fintech was used for back office banking operations, today it has DIY modes where customers rely less on a brick and mortar bank for their banking needs, and instead have a multitude of digital channels at their disposal. With 24/7 device-agnostic access, virtually every transaction is now digitally possible.

Financial inclusion plays a vital role in socio-economic development particularly in developing economies. While nations in sub-Saharan Africa have been investing substantial efforts to make financial services available to the underprivileged and marginalised, a vast majority still use informal modes to pay, save and lend.

Cybercrime continues to be an unending botheration for banks. While the focus of attempts and attacks until recently, tended to be on the banks’ customers (via card and account detail compromises), of late fraudsters have become more sophisticated and have raised the stakes.

Mobile transactions are overtaking everything else at a rate faster than businesses can handle. With the number of consumers switching to digital and mobile channels growing literally by the hour, banks need to simultaneously boost their defense mechanisms to prevent e-commerce and m-commerce frauds.

With the U.S. economy grappling with massive internal debt, ideas that can reduce even a fraction of this would be of great advantage. Financial institutions as well as startups have already begun looking for ways to innovate, and make banking systems more efficient which allows financial institutions to the lending problem effectively.

Over 30 countries now have real-time payment processes of some kind, some of them in use since decades and the benefits are evident. But in a real-time world, does faster payments mean faster fraud? What can financial institutions do to stay ahead of financial crime in payments?