Addressing Barriers To Change Faced By Issuers

While the focus on tech innovation within banks is gaining momentum, their clients, the corporates, financial institutions and governments – the issuers – also have an opportunity to enhance operational efficiency through tech adoption. So, what are the roadblocks faced by issuers that need to be addressed?

We only do very few transactions every year – so there’s no need to modernise

Digitalisation within primary capital markets is not just for the frequent issuers. The aim is to introduce significantly more efficiency into the system, this means:

• More and better quality data available before, during or after a transaction
• Improved accessibility to content with less dependency on intermediaries
• More targeted analytics that provide better context and more factual input

It is not just about doing things faster or more cost effectively. Modernisation is not about the latest new app – it is about creating relevant content and ensuring this can be effectively delivered and accessed by the professionals.

We have a limited budget to invest in new products/ideas

It used to be that improving business processes was linked to expensive technological upgrades, time consuming integrations and a lot of effort. This is not the case today. Tech investment is now much more cost effective and plug & play than at any time over the past decade. Cloud infrastructure means digitalisation can be implemented faster and more securely. Software as a service (SaaS) solutions minimise any integration required. We believe the starting point is for businesses to prioritise their top pain points and then find the appropriate fintech solution to meet their needs.

We need more data and better accessibility but less complication

While it is still early days in the digitalisation cycle, there is increased momentum to effect change – and a plethora of fantastic innovation from small and large fintech providers, such as Finsmart, within debt capital markets. As the solutions become more sophisticated, the content will become richer in terms of data, and features, increasingly simple and more user friendly. As the solutions evolve, active involvement from issuers is critical to continue to refine the tech and ensure it delivers appropriately.

The current process works – I have all the data I need on my spreadsheets

Resistance to change is not just found within financial services, it is there in all industries. It is the fear of the unknown, of the new; a comfort level reached over many years raises significant barriers to change. We are used to doing things in a certain way, using certain tools no matter how antiquated or manually intense the process is or has become. While spreadsheets are still in abundance within many institutions, they do not provide the functionality needed in today’s fast moving environment – they don’t offer:

• “Repeatability”
• A higher level of security, or
• The quality of data needed at the speed it is needed

Let’s rethink how we approach our day to day business, let’s prioritise our top pain points and address them with smarter solutions.

New products usually don’t work “out of the box”

It is important here to differentiate between a solution that doesn’t immediately add value out of the box and one that is still missing its final shape or full suite of features. If it’s the latter –  especially in the solution’s early days – it is to be expected. Features, sophisticated functionality, richer user experience take time to evolve and are the outcome of collaboration between the users and the vendor. That solution though needs to add value right from the start in a quantifiable way, when used it needs to give the “aha” moment to the users, make their lives better from day one.

Ultimately, tech adoption for issuers can be incredibly straightforward. Onboarding is swift and streamlined systems will empower issuers to enhance operations.  With this approach, change becomes sustainable and the investment of time and money returned over and again. 

For more information about Finsmart or DealPro, or for a demo, contact info@fin-smart.co