Many organizations are still in the process of digitizing their business. Digitalization often involves big data volumes to be managed and archived. Structured data, like financial figures and categorized information, gets stored and analyzed in multiple systems as part of the daily work of financial service providers. In addition, vast amounts of unstructured data is available through data capturing from internal processes and even more through the almost infinite resources of the internet. But how do organizations create tangible value from it?

Data is like garbage
“You’d better know what you are going to do with it before you collect it.” A quote from Mark Twain that still holds true today. Especially in the age of constantly growing data volumes.

However, modern data science is able to efficiently screen enormous amounts of unstructured and confusing data by harnessing artificial intelligence as well as data analytics and visualization techniques. In addition to providing the basis for decisions, these tools can also support client acquisition and improve the efficiency of processes such as KYC and AML.

AI powered background checks
Popular internet search mechanisms have become common tools to gather relevant information about new prospects and existing clients. Modern background checks go beyond traditional databases specialized in providing background information on people and companies and involve extensive research across various internet sources.

The combination of modern data analytics and artificial intelligence tools is saving compliance departments hours of intensive research work by providing highly automated and wide-reaching search engines. Applying such technologies is already revolutionizing the process of KYC and AML checks, as it can help to identify connections and activities that are easily missed using traditional and manual approaches. There are solutions which can be easily integrated into existing environments, but which can also be operated as standalone applications. Companies like Etops not only provide the technology but also the experience and the business consulting capacity required to successfully implement such solutions for organizations within the financial industry.

Data driven lead generation
Besides indirect value creation, data science is also helping organizations to directly increase their sales by identifying the most promising new leads and by providing a wide range of relevant information about new prospects. Together with AI tools, the combination of traditional database queries and automated research across multiple unstructured data sources is changing sales processes substantially. Together with partner companies, Etops is currently working on solutions which will support the lead generation process for private banks and wealth managers. This cutting-edge application will be based on an open architecture which will facilitate the integration with existing CRM and process-based on-boarding solutions which create and populate all the contracts and documents required.

In order to be able to make full use of these new technologies, traditional technology and corresponding service architecture are also required. Private banks and asset managers thinking of integrating such technology should therefore rely on companies with many years of experience in handling data. Companies with experienced service team and proven data management and aggregation technologies, offer the best prerequisites for the successful implementation of advanced digitization, process management and data science projects.

“You can have data without information, but you cannot have information without data.” Daniel Keys Moran

The importance of visualization
On the other side of the process, a crystal-clear presentation of results and their efficient evaluation are key. Data visualizations help to explore content in various ways and often provide additional insights. Informative dashboards present key metrics at a glance while providing meaningful context. Particularly in the financial industry, where quick decisions have to be made based on a multitude of figures, data visualization is a driving factor in the context of digital transformation.

Modern business intelligence technology provides the basis for faster and better business decisions by allowing the efficient setup of comprehensive overviews. In addition to data analysis and decision support, data visualization is also suitable for summarizing and presenting complex topics to customers and management.

Most banks, asset managers, fund managers, family offices and pension funds rely on proven partners with a strong ecosystem to master the challenges of digitalization. Technology and service providers that have specialized in those fields and established strong relationships with financial institutions as regards their individual needs and challenges are invaluable partners on the digitization journey.

What is unstructured data?
Unstructured data is data stored in its native format and not processed until it is used, which is known as schema-on-read. It comes in a myriad of file formats, including email, social media posts, presentations, chats, IoT sensor data, and satellite imagery. Unlike structured data, unstructured data is neither based on a predefined data model nor is it otherwise predefined. As a result, common relational databases are hardly suitable for such data. Alternative platforms as they are increasingly used offer the prerequisites for the use of business intelligence tools and applications for data analysis, which are also suitable for unstructured data.

The financial industry produces and needs unstructured data all the way across its value chain. Modern technology makes use of this data and creates value for the business.

Banks, asset and wealth managers, family offices, pension funds, all these organizations collect data from various sources including the internet and produce additional data across their value chain. This data contains high-quality information that can be used by modern technology and visualized in a comprehensible and clearly arranged way.

Figure 1: Etops empowers digitalization processes covering the entire value chain in wealth and asset management

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This article originally appeared in The Wealth Mosaic's 2020 Swiss Wealth Technology Landscape Report. Click here to access and download this report: https://docsend.com/view/2b56ksz