SPECIAL REPORT
“ The improved CX helps merchants grow their own loyalty , deepen client relationships , and provides data that can be used to personalise CX further ”
MARIQUIT CORCORAN GROUP CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER , BARCLAYS
industry ,” states Corcoran . “ Getting paid by concert promoters as an artist or creator can take a long time . Sometimes , even seeing what you ' re owed is really difficult . The lack of transparency means artists can ' t budget , and their banks can ' t rate them for credit .” As the live music industry seeks to rebuild itself following protracted difficulties in 2020 , embedded finance raises the possibility for genuine reform .
It should also be noted that this change is widely applicable to many disparate industries . Another sector Corcoran puts forward as primed for transformation is agriculture : “ Startups like
FarmGuide in India are embedding intelligence into financial services for the domestic farming community . That data can then be used by farmers , banks , insurance companies , and state governments to model a wideranging set of outcomes from crop success to insurance risk on a farm-by-farm basis .” Furthermore , according to FarmGuide ’ s Co-Founder Ankit Gupta , this data stack can be used to support 140 million farmers , a multitude that would have formerly been underserved or overlooked by the traditional credit industry .
The future of finance The potential for digital technology to transform finance has , in some cases , been a double-edged sword for some FSIs : the customer benefits are readily apparent , but the shifting dynamic that gives the tech sector a more prominent role has been intimidating . Corcoran declares that this certainly isn ’ t the case with Barclays , which has “ fully embraced ” the future hinted at by embedded finance . “ Barclays US Consumer Bank recently announced a new strategic partnership with
Amount , a leading technology provider for financial institutions , to expand our point of sale ( POS ) financing suite .” This is a growing market for Barclays and one it is rigorously developing ; in the bank ’ s 2021
Q1 results , Group CEO Jes Staley announced that its contract as POS engine for Amazon Germany is being extended to the UK . This supplements another high-profile partnership the bank shares with Apple UK .
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