Orange Middle East & Africa is joining forces with Microsoft, looking to offer Microsoft solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 17 countries across the MEA region. Orange is also partnering with Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of tech company Tencent, to improve its super-app ‘Max it’ for businesses and populations in the region.

By collaborating with Microsoft, Orange MEA aims to address the growing needs of SMEs as they undergo digital transformation. Orange’s existing distribution network in the MEA region will now provide SMEs with easy access to the likes of Microsoft 365, Copilot, Azure, and Dynamics 365 while facilitating the upskilling of Microsoft experts within each country.

Orange and Microsoft will also collaborate on training, marketing, and sales support programmes to enable SMEs to adopt and benefit from Microsoft Modern Work solutions.

Through the collaboration, Microsoft and Orange aim to support 15,000 businesses throughout 2024, with an ambition to reach one million SMEs by providing access to technology, tools and support to accelerate adoption. The goal is to promote digital inclusion and enable all economic players in the MEA region to benefit from the advantages of digital transformation.

Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange MEA, explained: “This collaboration with Microsoft is a significant step in our commitment to support the digital transformation of African businesses. By combining our network and Microsoft’s solutions, we can provide SMEs with the tools and guidance they need to thrive in the digital economy.”

Energising ‘innovation and digital inclusion in Africa’

Meanwhile, Orange MEA is also planning to adopt Tencent Cloud’s mobility framework and Tencent Cloud Mini Program Platform (TCMPP) solution to create an open platform for Max it to integrate a wide range of mini-apps within its super-app.

Tencent Cloud’s technological expertise will empower Orange MEA in the field of mini-apps to enrich its Max it ecosystem and improve the customer and partner experience, while strengthening its position in the African market.

Fred Sun, general manager of Europe at Tencent Cloud, commented: “This collaboration represents a unique opportunity to energise innovation and digital inclusion in Africa, facilitating the development of use cases and services tailored to local needs while promoting African entrepreneurship. Our experience in supporting Weixin/WeChat, one of the world’s original super-apps, makes us the ideal partner for Orange. We look forward to working with the African enterprises and supporting its ecosystem through Tencent Cloud’s products and solutions in the near future.”

Hénique also emphasised the important milestone this partnership represents in the development of Max it: “This partnership with Tencent Cloud is a key step in our vision to offer innovative and high-value services to our users. Enriching Max it with innovative mini-apps is essential to strengthen the value proposition of Max it, increase the penetration of our super-app among Orange and non-Orange customers, and amplify our social impact.”

New research from Economist Impact supported by Temenos has revealed that almost half of European banks are investing in fintech start-ups while 36 per cent are building their own greenfield digital bank or fintech company. 

The study looks specifically at the attitudes of banks in Europe as it identifies that the majority believe neobanks will be their biggest challengers in the near future. Titled, Challenging the challengers: Europe’s banks face the competition, the report also found that European banks are migrating core banking systems to public cloud and SaaS in greater numbers than their counterparts in other regions.

It set out to understand emerging trends in the banking industry. This report presents insights from a global survey of 300 executives in retail, commercial and private banking spanning Europe (25 per cent), North America (23 per cent), Asia Pacific (18 per cent), Middle East and Africa (17 per cent), and Latin America (17 per cent).

Respondents perform various job functions, such as IT, customer service, finance, marketing and sales, strategy and business development, and general management, among others. Half of the respondents were C-suite executives. This is the seventh year that Economist Impact has conducted this survey. The research also included interviews with industry practitioners to gain further insights.

Jonathan Birdwell, global head of policy and insights, Economist Impact said: “Fintechs and neobanks took the lead in using new technologies to provide better customer experiences. European banks are now fighting back, emulating the way non-traditional players have used technology to reach consumers who had been underserved by traditional financial services, and to appeal to existing customers with support in managing their personal finances.”

Banks priorities 

The report reveals payment players and technology providers continue to be top of mind, with payments being the space European banks predict new entrants will gain the most market share. HSBC recently launched Zing, a new multi-currency payments app to compete with the likes of Wise and Revolut.

Over a fifth (21 per cent) of European banks see cloud as a strategic priority, ensuring their operations are agile and secure to compete with more nimble competitors. AI is also a key part of their technology investment strategy, particularly to improve the customer experience and support digital marketing, with three-quarters (75 per cent) of European bankers believing that the banking sector will be significantly impacted by generative AI.

A shifting landscape

Kanika Hope, chief strategy officer, Temenos said: “The competitive landscape is shifting. As neobanks and fintechs experience growing pains and face funding difficulties, Europe’s banks are taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by open banking by pursuing collaborations with their challengers to offer a wider range of better services to their customers. They are also investing in technology, using cloud-native banking platforms and SaaS to improve the customer experience and ensure their operations are agile and secure.”

Temenos, a trusted SaaS provider to 700 banks, recently launched end-to-end SaaS services for Retail, Business and Corporate Banking with over 120 pre-configured products, processes and 700 APIs, to enable banks to deploy software solutions in just 24 hours and significantly reduce modernisation costs. The company also recently announced Temenos LEAP, a new AI-powered offering that helps banks modernise faster to the latest cloud-native Temenos technology.

 

Google Cloud has strategically partnered with Admiral, the financial services company in the UK, to improve its core insurance operations and enhance customer experiences.

Following the agreement, Google Cloud will power Admiral’s core insurance operations, including insurance policy administration and digital systems. Admiral will also use Google Cloud technologies to develop new digital products and services, such as making further improvements to its customer-facing mobile app.

Using its centralised view of data, Admiral will deliver more personalised and seamless digital experiences to its customers, including personalised offers and tailored services. Admiral also plans to use Google Cloud to bolster its digital channels, including its website, mobile app, and contact centre.

Admiral explained that the collaboration will enable it to accelerate time-to-market for new products and services by deploying containerised cloud applications and adopting new software development practices. The firm will also continue to improve operational efficiency using Google Cloud’s data analytics capabilities, and better serve its customers with Google Cloud’s AI and machine learning services.

Committed to upskilling

Alan Patefield-Smith, CIO at Admiral, commented: “With our customers at the heart of everything we do, Admiral is delighted to join forces with Google Cloud to help us achieve our strategic goals. Google Cloud’s cutting-edge tech and expertise allow us to accelerate our digital transformation journey and help us to deliver forward-thinking customer experiences.”

As part of the partnership, Admiral will work with Google Cloud to upskill its employees in cloud computing and data analytics skills. The move comes in an attempt to ensure that Admiral is able to take advantage of the latest cloud technologies and deliver better products and services to its customers.

Helen Kelisky, MD of UKI at Google Cloud, also added: “Admiral is an innovative insurer that has delivered many firsts to the market. We are proud to support its continued commitment to giving its customers the very best products and services across its insurance portfolio. We look forward to strengthening our existing relationship with Admiral to help it accelerate its change strategy and deliver even better experiences.”

Admiral will continue to support external initiatives such as Code First Girls in collaboration with Google Cloud.

British bank HSBC has partnered with Google Cloud, in an effort to accelerate climate mitigation and resilience through financing and support for companies involved in the ‘Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability’ programme.

Under the new partnership, Google Cloud will introduce companies in the programme to the specialist HSBC climate tech finance team to explore venture debt financing options. HSBC will seek financing opportunities for companies within its sustainability ecosystem, as part of its ambition to deploy $1billion of climate tech finance.

The Google Cloud Ready validation programme is open to companies with solutions available on Google Cloud that help customers achieve goals including carbon emission reduction, increased sustainability in value chains, and processing of ESG data to help identify climate risks.

Natalie Blyth, global head of commercial banking sustainability at HSBC, explained: “A step change is needed to scale up the new technologies that will play a critical role in supporting global decarbonisation.

“Partnerships and innovative financing solutions are key, especially during a period when investment in climate tech startups has fallen. By combining financing support, cloud technologies and connectivity to partners across our combined footprints, we will help climate tech vendors accelerate their growth, and develop the solutions we urgently need at scale.”

The partnership builds on the launch of an HSBC credit risk advisory tool on Google Cloud. It also follows HSBC’s announcement of its ambition to deploy $1billion of financing to early-stage climate tech companies and the launch of HSBC Innovation Banking – a specialised banking proposition to support a broad range of innovation businesses and their investors.

Supporting firms key to climate action

Justin Keeble, managing director for global sustainability at Google Cloud, also added: “The scale of climate challenge requires a global ecosystem of technology providers bringing solutions that drive impact. This is why we launched our Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability ecosystem which – one year in – includes leading climate tech companies. Many of these partners need access to finance and we are excited to partner with HSBC to support firms key to climate action.”

Google Cloud will also continue to increase the number of partners in the Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability programme over the next two years.

The partnership launches with a venture debt financing package from HSBC delivered to GCR-Sustainability-validated company LevelTen Energy. LevelTen Energy provides renewable transaction infrastructure for buyers, sellers, advisors and financiers in the clean energy economy. To date, the company has facilitated over $5billion in clean energy transactions.

Ross Trenary, chief financial officer of LevelTen, also explained the impact the package could have: “This venture debt package will enable us to scale our platform, which provides transaction infrastructure for carbon-free energy buyers, sellers and financiers. HSBC’s global reach aligns with our international presence, while giving us opportunities to connect with HSBC clients that are looking to achieve sustainability goals.”

Themis, the financial crime tech firm has reinforced its commitment to preventing financial crime as it launches its new risk management cloud service, hosted in Saudi Arabia. 

The new Themis service, situated in Jeddah, is purpose-built to meet the demands of the region. It also ensures regulatory requirements around data sovereignty are met. Additionally, it ensures that all its customers’ data remain held and processed within the region. It is also equipped with advanced technology, robust security measures, and compliance features. As a result, the service is poised to become a cornerstone for organisations seeking top-tier financial crime prevention infrastructure.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our Financial Crime platform to Saudi Arabia,” said Dickon Johnstone, CEO at Themis. “This initiative reflects our unwavering commitment to providing the region with the most advanced tools and infrastructure to combat financial crime effectively in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”

Key features include:

• Advanced AI-based financial crime prevention technology: offering clients state-of-the-art tools to safeguard their operations.
• Stringent security protocols: Security is paramount in all industries, and the service employs cutting-edge security measures, including continuous surveillance, and robust security systems to ensure the integrity of data.
• Compliance-driven infrastructure: Themis is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of compliance. The service is designed to meet and exceed industry regulations, protecting institutions from any risk of compliance breaches.
• High-speed, low-latency connectivity: The service’s strategic location ensures seamless, high-speed, and low-latency connectivity, enabling firms to access critical data and applications with unparalleled efficiency.

“It is great to see our strategy of build once, deploy anywhere, coming to life in this way, said Themis CTO Matthew Deacon. “This is our latest deployment of Themis Search having instances already running in the UK, and the UAE. We can literally stand up new instances of the service anywhere our customers are, even within their own data centres. This allows us to overcome even the most stringent regulation that form barriers to other suppliers in the market”.

Success in Saudi 

The launch of the data centre in Saudi Arabia is a pivotal step in Themis’s mission to empower businesses globally with innovative solutions. Consequently, Themis will enhance the businesses’ ability to detect, prevent, and ultimately reduce the global impacts of financial crime.

There is a strong drive to tackle financial crime within Saudi Arabia. The country has made anti-financial crime efforts and innovation a key part of progress towards its Vision 2030. In doing so, it will diversify the economy, foster entrepreneurship, and grow its already robust financial sector.

The digital transformation taking place in the country also brings new opportunities for coordination. This is the case across both the public and private sectors. Together they can fight financial crime effectively and creatively. Themis is positioned to provide the tools necessary to do so.

Themis technology is built in such a way that data can be hosted anywhere in the world. Therefore it can adhere to any jurisdictional regulatory requirements.

It’s a time of reflection and anticipation at The Fintech Times throughout December, as we look back at developments and trends over the last 12 months and forward to the year ahead.

We’re excited to share the thoughts of fintech CEOs and industry leaders from across the globe to 2023’s key takeaways and what we should expect to be top of the agenda in 2024.

Today we delve into cloud technology, its integration with AI, the ‘buy vs build’ debate, cloud adoption in banking, managed services for IT complexity, adoption of cloud technology in tax, and the necessity of digital transformation in financial services.

Managing security

Cloud security should be a paramount concern for any organisation in 2024, warns Monica Tigleanu, divisional director of cyber strategy at global insurance group BMS. 

“As businesses increasingly migrate to cloud-based platforms or are cloud native, they face a new frontier of cyber threats in the cloud by opening up avenues for potential cyber attacks that can exploit weaknesses in off-premises service platforms.

“Key among these vulnerabilities is the challenge of managing identity credentials and encryption keys. The management plane of a cloud platform – offering an efficient interface for overseeing identities and infrastructure – is often the primary focus for threat actors due to its significance.

“As the bedrock of cloud security, any lapse in these areas can enable unauthorised access and movement within cloud environments, a phenomenon known as lateral movement and has been observed by incident response firms in recent attacks. This is compounded by the risks presented by insecure interfaces and application programming interfaces.

“There are also threats associated with an inadequate cloud incident response. This could stem from a lack of cloud expertise, outdated traditional incident response methods, or the difficulty of collecting and the complexity of accessing data stored by third-party cloud providers.

“Adding to the complexity of cloud security is the prevalent issue of misconfiguration and inadequate change control. The dynamic nature of the cloud requires robust change management processes to prevent configuration drifts that could lead to unanticipated security gaps.”

Pressure on cloud demands

Roger Brulotte, CEO of cloud hosting provider Leaseweb Canada, explores how cloud computing will be a game-changer for the fintech industry with the integration of AI.

“In 2023, the tech world experienced a significant shift with the emergence of artificial intelligence,” he says. “This development sparked widespread interest across all industries, particularly in fintech, where it created a need for faster, more accurate, and personalised solutions.

“Meeting these new customer demands requires immediate delivery of financial services, which can only be possible through cloud offerings that are specifically designed to power AI applications and be able to handle the volume.

In 2024, I predict that fintech will continue to rely on AI-powered companies and applications to meet these growing expectations. However, integrating AI into their systems will require a significant amount of cloud computing, which in turn will lead to a financial breaking point.

“To avoid this, fintech companies need to be strategic in their use of AI and find hosting providers that offer scalability and cost efficiency. They should look for providers that have a wide range of servers, from the cloud to individual devices, to effectively distribute workloads and reduce pressure on their cloud computing demands.”

Buy vs build

In 2023, capital markets firms embraced cloud technology and, while this trend is expected to continue, firms will need expert guidance to navigate the evolving landscape effectively, comments Matt Barrett, CEO at financial services company Adaptive.

“2023 saw capital markets firms begin to fully embrace the operational move to the cloud, as past technological challenges hindering the shift are being addressed with the emergence of low-latency, high-throughput and fault-tolerant trading technology, available 24/7 in the cloud,” Barrett says.

“The increased cloud adoption also prompted a turning point in the ‘buy vs build’ debate by blurring the lines of the previous choices firms were restricted to. There is now a more nuanced option: the multi-dimensional hybrid model, where firms acquire pre-built, non-core technologies, thereby freeing up resources to concentrate on developing custom solutions that differentiate them.

“For the first time in the electronic trading space, the cloud can be used to provision what used to be procured from telco, co-lo and hardware providers. The new model empowers firms to accelerate innovation at a reduced cost whilst gaining a more steadfast competitive edge.

“As the race to the cloud accelerates, the year ahead will see this trend unfold at a greater scale. Firms realise that striking the right balance with this hybrid model whilst still adjusting to the digital realm poses a challenge. Expert guidance will prove to be invaluable in navigating this fast-evolving landscape and unlocking the cloud’s full capabilities.”

Hop it to the cloud

In 2024, the use of cloud-based technology will rapidly accelerate as more banks seek modern solutions to doing business, suggests Joman Kwong, strategic solutions manager at Laserfiche, a SaaS provider of enterprise content management.

“This marks a significant transition in the industry as financial institutions have historically resisted moving sensitive data to the cloud.

“Creating a digital ecosystem with cloud adoption will support new product development and innovation, boost resiliency and business continuity, and optimise overall cost-effectiveness.

“In 2024, to maximise investments, businesses will leverage API integration to enhance business intelligence, foster innovation, eliminate information silos, and reduce the burden on IT teams.”

Managed services will become key

According to Giorgio Regni, CTO at Scality, the sustainable data storage software,  ongoing demands to decrease IT complexity with secure, efficient solutions will dominate IT budgets into the new year.

In addition, perennial data storage management challenges — growing data volumes, tight budgets, skills shortages, complicated IT installations, and increasing cyber threats — will persist.

“Multi-cloud is a reality today for most enterprises, in their use of multiple SaaS and IaaS offerings from different vendors. However, the use of on-premises and public cloud in a single application or workload has become mired in the complexities of different application deployment models and multiple vendor APIs and orchestration frameworks.

“While this has inhibited the powerful agility and cost-reduction promises of the hybrid-cloud model, throughout the coming year, organisations will increasingly leverage the experience and skills of managed service providers (MSPs) to solve these complexity issues and help them achieve business value and ROI.”

Accelerated adoption

For Andrew Burman, principal, tax technology at Ryan, a global tax services and software provider, the accelerated adoption of cloud technology is expected to be a prominent trend in 2024.

“With benefits including real-time updates, advanced security measures protecting sensitive information, and a reduction of manual tasks, tax teams are already at a tipping point,” he says. “The efficiencies, reduction of risk, and opportunities for more real-time data-processing offered are already ‘must-haves’ not ‘nice-to-haves,’ and this trend will continue.

“Process and control automation is another interesting development that has rapidly gained traction over the past few years, but which I see accelerating during 2024. The number and nature on tax is continuing to increase exponentially, and many tax functions are already unable to cope without the additional capacity these technologies offer.

“We will see more manual, repetitive processes and controls moving to these technologies, to be carried out more in ‘real-time’ and less at period-end, enabling teams to focus on more strategic tasks. Increasingly, this will include real-time testing and ‘tagging’ of data for a variety of tax purposes, replacing traditional retrospective reviews.

“Tax teams stand at a crossroads, with the power to embrace and leverage these technological advancements or risk falling behind. Embracing innovation will not only enhance operational efficiencies but pave the way for staying competitive, and ahead of the tax authorities, in a rapidly transforming industry.”

Transitioning to cloud

Over the past 12 months, the financial services industry has learned vital lessons about the necessity of digital transformation, according to Bruno Sousa, head of fintech at software engineering company Mindera.

“Legacy systems, once the backbone of banking operations, have increasingly become obstacles to innovation and efficiency,” he says. “The key takeaway is the urgent need for banks to modernise their technological infrastructure. This transformation involves transitioning from traditional systems to cloud-based platforms and integrating into a broader financial services ecosystem. Such a shift not only streamlines operations but also significantly enhances the customer experience by introducing innovative, data-driven solutions swiftly.

“Looking ahead to the next 12 months, we can predict further acceleration in the adoption of cloud technologies and a deeper commitment to digital ecosystems in banking. Banks are likely to focus more on collaborations with fintechs and other financial institutions, leveraging their complementary strengths to offer unified, seamless services.

“Additionally, the integration of AI and blockchain technology will likely become more pronounced, driving efficiency and enabling more personalised financial services. The emphasis will be on agility and adaptability, with financial institutions aiming to quickly respond to evolving market demands and customer expectations.”

It’s a time of reflection and anticipation at The Fintech Times throughout December, as we look back at developments and trends over the last 12 months and forward to the year ahead.

We’re excited to share the thoughts of fintech CEOs and industry leaders from across the globe to 2023’s key takeaways and what we should expect to be top of the agenda in 2024.

Today we delve into cloud technology, its integration with AI, the ‘buy vs build’ debate, cloud adoption in banking, managed services for IT complexity, adoption of cloud technology in tax, and the necessity of digital transformation in financial services.

Managing security

Cloud security should be a paramount concern for any organisation in 2024, warns Monica Tigleanu, divisional director of cyber strategy at global insurance group BMS. 

“As businesses increasingly migrate to cloud-based platforms or are cloud native, they face a new frontier of cyber threats in the cloud by opening up avenues for potential cyber attacks that can exploit weaknesses in off-premises service platforms.

“Key among these vulnerabilities is the challenge of managing identity credentials and encryption keys. The management plane of a cloud platform – offering an efficient interface for overseeing identities and infrastructure – is often the primary focus for threat actors due to its significance.

“As the bedrock of cloud security, any lapse in these areas can enable unauthorised access and movement within cloud environments, a phenomenon known as lateral movement and has been observed by incident response firms in recent attacks. This is compounded by the risks presented by insecure interfaces and application programming interfaces.

“There are also threats associated with an inadequate cloud incident response. This could stem from a lack of cloud expertise, outdated traditional incident response methods, or the difficulty of collecting and the complexity of accessing data stored by third-party cloud providers.

“Adding to the complexity of cloud security is the prevalent issue of misconfiguration and inadequate change control. The dynamic nature of the cloud requires robust change management processes to prevent configuration drifts that could lead to unanticipated security gaps.”

Pressure on cloud demands

Roger Brulotte, CEO of cloud hosting provider Leaseweb Canada, explores how cloud computing will be a game-changer for the fintech industry with the integration of AI.

“In 2023, the tech world experienced a significant shift with the emergence of artificial intelligence,” he says. “This development sparked widespread interest across all industries, particularly in fintech, where it created a need for faster, more accurate, and personalised solutions.

“Meeting these new customer demands requires immediate delivery of financial services, which can only be possible through cloud offerings that are specifically designed to power AI applications and be able to handle the volume.

In 2024, I predict that fintech will continue to rely on AI-powered companies and applications to meet these growing expectations. However, integrating AI into their systems will require a significant amount of cloud computing, which in turn will lead to a financial breaking point.

“To avoid this, fintech companies need to be strategic in their use of AI and find hosting providers that offer scalability and cost efficiency. They should look for providers that have a wide range of servers, from the cloud to individual devices, to effectively distribute workloads and reduce pressure on their cloud computing demands.”

Buy vs build

In 2023, capital markets firms embraced cloud technology and, while this trend is expected to continue, firms will need expert guidance to navigate the evolving landscape effectively, comments Matt Barrett, CEO at financial services company Adaptive.

“2023 saw capital markets firms begin to fully embrace the operational move to the cloud, as past technological challenges hindering the shift are being addressed with the emergence of low-latency, high-throughput and fault-tolerant trading technology, available 24/7 in the cloud,” Barrett says.

“The increased cloud adoption also prompted a turning point in the ‘buy vs build’ debate by blurring the lines of the previous choices firms were restricted to. There is now a more nuanced option: the multi-dimensional hybrid model, where firms acquire pre-built, non-core technologies, thereby freeing up resources to concentrate on developing custom solutions that differentiate them.

“For the first time in the electronic trading space, the cloud can be used to provision what used to be procured from telco, co-lo and hardware providers. The new model empowers firms to accelerate innovation at a reduced cost whilst gaining a more steadfast competitive edge.

“As the race to the cloud accelerates, the year ahead will see this trend unfold at a greater scale. Firms realise that striking the right balance with this hybrid model whilst still adjusting to the digital realm poses a challenge. Expert guidance will prove to be invaluable in navigating this fast-evolving landscape and unlocking the cloud’s full capabilities.”

Hop it to the cloud

In 2024, the use of cloud-based technology will rapidly accelerate as more banks seek modern solutions to doing business, suggests Joman Kwong, strategic solutions manager at Laserfiche, a SaaS provider of enterprise content management.

“This marks a significant transition in the industry as financial institutions have historically resisted moving sensitive data to the cloud.

“Creating a digital ecosystem with cloud adoption will support new product development and innovation, boost resiliency and business continuity, and optimise overall cost-effectiveness.

“In 2024, to maximise investments, businesses will leverage API integration to enhance business intelligence, foster innovation, eliminate information silos, and reduce the burden on IT teams.”

Managed services will become key

According to Giorgio Regni, CTO at Scality, the sustainable data storage software,  ongoing demands to decrease IT complexity with secure, efficient solutions will dominate IT budgets into the new year.

In addition, perennial data storage management challenges — growing data volumes, tight budgets, skills shortages, complicated IT installations, and increasing cyber threats — will persist.

“Multi-cloud is a reality today for most enterprises, in their use of multiple SaaS and IaaS offerings from different vendors. However, the use of on-premises and public cloud in a single application or workload has become mired in the complexities of different application deployment models and multiple vendor APIs and orchestration frameworks.

“While this has inhibited the powerful agility and cost-reduction promises of the hybrid-cloud model, throughout the coming year, organisations will increasingly leverage the experience and skills of managed service providers (MSPs) to solve these complexity issues and help them achieve business value and ROI.”

Accelerated adoption

For Andrew Burman, principal, tax technology at Ryan, a global tax services and software provider, the accelerated adoption of cloud technology is expected to be a prominent trend in 2024.

“With benefits including real-time updates, advanced security measures protecting sensitive information, and a reduction of manual tasks, tax teams are already at a tipping point,” he says. “The efficiencies, reduction of risk, and opportunities for more real-time data-processing offered are already ‘must-haves’ not ‘nice-to-haves,’ and this trend will continue.

“Process and control automation is another interesting development that has rapidly gained traction over the past few years, but which I see accelerating during 2024. The number and nature on tax is continuing to increase exponentially, and many tax functions are already unable to cope without the additional capacity these technologies offer.

“We will see more manual, repetitive processes and controls moving to these technologies, to be carried out more in ‘real-time’ and less at period-end, enabling teams to focus on more strategic tasks. Increasingly, this will include real-time testing and ‘tagging’ of data for a variety of tax purposes, replacing traditional retrospective reviews.

“Tax teams stand at a crossroads, with the power to embrace and leverage these technological advancements or risk falling behind. Embracing innovation will not only enhance operational efficiencies but pave the way for staying competitive, and ahead of the tax authorities, in a rapidly transforming industry.”

Transitioning to cloud

Over the past 12 months, the financial services industry has learned vital lessons about the necessity of digital transformation, according to Bruno Sousa, head of fintech at software engineering company Mindera.

“Legacy systems, once the backbone of banking operations, have increasingly become obstacles to innovation and efficiency,” he says. “The key takeaway is the urgent need for banks to modernise their technological infrastructure. This transformation involves transitioning from traditional systems to cloud-based platforms and integrating into a broader financial services ecosystem. Such a shift not only streamlines operations but also significantly enhances the customer experience by introducing innovative, data-driven solutions swiftly.

“Looking ahead to the next 12 months, we can predict further acceleration in the adoption of cloud technologies and a deeper commitment to digital ecosystems in banking. Banks are likely to focus more on collaborations with fintechs and other financial institutions, leveraging their complementary strengths to offer unified, seamless services.

“Additionally, the integration of AI and blockchain technology will likely become more pronounced, driving efficiency and enabling more personalised financial services. The emphasis will be on agility and adaptability, with financial institutions aiming to quickly respond to evolving market demands and customer expectations.”