Become a Fintech Connoisseur in 6 Issues! The Fin or Tech podcast on innovation has been released
Miscellaneous / / October 22, 2021
Find out about payment by a person, robot assistants and other technologies that seem to be something from the future, but in fact are already available to each of us.
What is "Fin or Tech"
This is a podcast that we made together with fintech experts and the company Visa. Each episode is dedicated to one of the innovations that are changing business, our lives and the future. The guests of the issues are startups, bankers, managers of digital projects, in general, specialists who are developing Russian fintech right now. And the audio show is hosted by Maria Podlesnova, the founder of a media for entrepreneurs about innovation and technology.
Choose an episode that interests you or listen to everything in order!
1. How virtual assistants help us do business
Leaving a long meeting and seeing ten missed calls is a thing of the past. Assistant robots are already available that will accept an incoming call, explain that you are not available, and record all the information. This is what the first episode of the podcast tells about.
Evgenia Ovchinnikova, Head of Technological Research and Digital Innovation at Raiffeisenbank, shared facts about the virtual assistant "Masha", which receives calls instead of the client and sends information about them to messenger. And the co-founder of the Dasha service. AI Alexander Zaitsev presented "Dasha" - a robot that can receive calls from clients and communicate in chats. "Dasha" is confused with a living person!
The podcast guests discussed how to educate a polite robot that won't learn bad things from users. And they also speculated when they would create an artificial intelligence that would be able to feel and invent something new (spoiler: it seems soon!).
2. How to pay for purchases using biometrics
We have been successfully paying for purchases for a long time with smart watches and phones. But technology has eliminated these intermediaries as well. You can already pay for travel in transport or shopping in a store using face identification or a palm print. Comfortable? Highly! But is it safe? The guests of the release told about it.
Ksenia Andreeva, Head of Debit Cards and Accounts at VTB Bank, explained how such a system works and why it can be more reliable than cash and cards. And the co-founder of the SWiP contactless payment platform Ksenia Konstantinova gave arguments why face calculation is more convenient than other types of biometrics, for example, retinal scanning.
In the second issue, we also talked about other types of innovative technologies for payments - QR-code or NFC-chip. By the way, the latter can be embedded into almost any object: into a belt, a car, and even implanted under the skin!
3. Why businesses are building digital ecosystems and supers
You can already apply for a loan and order pizza in one application. Superappas are constantly expanding and incorporating more and more functions. And almost all major market players seem to be developing their own ecosystem. Or not? Dealing with supers and ecosystems (yes, they are not the same thing) in the third episode of the podcast.
Guests - General Director of Frank RG Yuri Gribanov and Head of the Daily Banking cluster of MTS Bank Vladimir Stasevich - helped to understand all the subtleties of terminology and nuances of processes. Experts told why it is profitable for banks, shops and various services to unite in an ecosystem. And also - we discussed the disadvantages and weaknesses of such cooperation.
By the way, if you also want to launch your own service or affiliate network, this episode will be especially useful to you. The discussion touched upon promising areas and technologies that are now worth developing. Look for all the answers in the podcast.
4. What is Fijital and how is it useful for you?
Imagine: you come to the bank. You do not need to take a queue, because the biometric identification system recognized you and sent an electronic ticket to the mobile application. An employee of the department received a notification and meets you, having already prepared the necessary data. This is Fijital - a combination of physical space and digital.
Ivan Pyatkov, director of digital business, board member of Alfa-Bank, and Lina Arkhipova, commercial director of Addreality, told about the development of digital technologies. The guests discussed how the new technology makes an ordinary trip to the store or bank interesting. For example, smart screens in a supermarket can tell you which item is the perfect complement to your grocery cart. And empathic systems are able to analyze gender, age, emotions and offer the most useful personalized content.
The conversation also touched on the economic side. The experts shared their predictions about the future of Fijital and explained how companies' investments in new technologies pay off.
5. How digital technologies help entrepreneurs make money
Today, you can open your own business without going to a bank branch. And to launch an online store, you do not have to pay for the development of the site or build it yourself - you can use the online store builder. In this episode, we looked at how digital technology is helping small businesses simplify their work and differentiate themselves from the competition.
The participants in the issue are Vladimir Tarasov, Ecwid Development Director in Russia, and Managing Director of the Digital Assets Management Department of Gazprombank, Head of Prosto | Bank "Denis Khrenov. The experts provided many useful insights into solutions for small and micro businesses. They help smaller players compete in a market where the advancement of digital technology seems to be essential for survival.
The guests discussed whether the company can now exist without digital technologies, and gave examples. Let's say, even in such a conservative area as agriculture, they use satellite communications to analyze fields.
6. How will we go to stores without sellers
Collect groceries in a basket and just leave the store. No, not theft, but an innovative format! In the final episode of the podcast, the creator of Briskly Gleb Kharitonov and the head of the Take & Go project from Azbuka Vkusa Sergey Cherednikov met and discussed stores without a seller.
Outwardly, this is a familiar trading floor with groceries. But for its operation, a powerful technological base is needed - devices, software, built-in processes. The experts told all the details of the "engine compartment" part of the store without the seller. How many sensors and cameras are needed to ensure correct product recognition? Is this format useful when more and more shoppers order groceries online?
The guests gave answers to these and other questions in the podcast. And besides, we talked about the prospects for food tech and whether we will be able to completely abandon offline stores someday.