IBS Journal July 2018
15
However, the frustration has always been “getting the data to the right place.” Issues such as data privacy, residency and retention laws, regulatory boundaries and cross-border complications make it hard to properly deploy AI systems.
Maguire appears to be a keen proponent of ‘if it ain’t broke…’. “The wheel was invented a long time ago and there’s no need to reinvent it,” he told the audience. Basic transactional data is already valuable to a bank, so spending a huge amount of time, money and effort on redundant systems to tell them what they already know is “frustrating”. “No offence,” he said, “but the data analytics people think being 30% correct is good and it’s not. It’s really bad.” That figure, he added, needs to be more like 80%.
HSBC, as a global bank, knows better than anyone what’s disrupting the market. When asked about the potential of the big technology companies, Maguire admitted that Alipay and Tencent were “extraordinary”. HSBC is already partnering with both in China and is monitoring the pair’s activities in its Hong Kong base.
Amazon, however, doesn’t offer as big of a challenge. Maguire points to the firm’s use of data. “Amazon doesn’t see me as me – it sees me as a mixture of the [multiple] personas buying products,” he said. For a bank, Amazon’s famous habit of offering a wife the husband’s purchases would be unacceptable.
“They move goods and money and they’re very good at it,” admitted Maguire. “But their biggest client is us, the banks.” Amazon is a threat, a partner and a role model. The banks’ saving grace will be that Amazon is “far more interested” in retail than becoming a bank. “We’ll see how it plays out,” he said.
Visa: an apology
Charlotte Hogg, CEO for Europe at VISA, took the brave decision to take to the stage following the company’s embarrassing outage the previous week. “I’d like to start by saying sorry to our shareholders and card holders,” she said. “Our mission is to connect the world through the most secure and resilient network so that businesses can thrive. We fell well short of those expectations.”
Hogg continued: “I did have a speech prepared which was all about thinking through the lessons of history and how they can help fulfill the expectations of consumers in this digital world today. Given the last few days, that now seems as relevant as ever.” She added that the outage was caused by a hardware issue, and was not connected to any form of cyberattack.
The Woz on Bitcoin
Later, the main stage became so packed it was standing room only. The man bringing the crowds was none other than Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who took the opportunity to wax lyrical about his passions. Despite the best efforts of the session’s moderator, ‘the Woz’ spoke at length on multiple topics, including video games, comic-con and his fascination with Bitcoin.
Amazon doesn’t see me as me – it sees me as a mixture of the [multiple] personas buying products
“
Wozniak outed himself as a big fan of blockchain, comparing it to the internet in 2000. Back then, he said, people doubted the internet would become ubiquitous (after the dot com crash), yet it surprised everyone and “took over our lives”.
On the hot topic of AI, Wozniak stated that the field is still growing and it will be a long time before anything comes close to the responsiveness of a human being. AI isn’t AI, he said, when a human is still telling it what to think. Humans have developed their own ideals of trust and ethics, while AI will likely come up with its own definitions, as well. Wozniak questioned humanity’s readiness for true artificial intelligence, opining that the minute a machine begins to think for itself humans would most likely try to shut it down.
Questions from the audience, as usual, ranged from the insightful to the nonsensical. Many were keen to know more about Apple Pay, and how the tech company started dominating the world of mobile payments. Wozniak revealed that back in the days of Google Wallet, the process had far too much friction (though he admitted it was a good idea). He added with a touch of bitterness that Apple Pay appeared at a time in which people were deriding the firm for a lack of innovative thinking.
Of course, Wozniak cannot go anywhere without being asked about Steve Jobs. When asked about where banks could improve – and how Jobs may have done it – he answered that he was always a people person. Jobs, he added, was never a technologist, but understood what needed to be done to connect with people and understand what it was they wanted at the heart of things.
Away from the main shows, open banking, GDPR and PSD2 dominated the conversation, with last year’s buzzword, blockchain, demoted to an afterthought. The collaboration narrative is finally coming into full effect, and it seems every vendor and their dog is looking at releasing a fintech marketplace for its clients. Even fintechs are getting into the fashion. Will we soon be looking at a marketplace of marketplaces? One cynical executive told IBSJ that most of these new ventures will wither on the vine, and a few strong contenders will emerge. After all, can you think of any major application marketplaces outside of Google Play and the App Store?
People were generally impressed with how the show had been put on this year, with many liking the new conference centre and the ease of travel around it. With the press lounge situated upon a walkway between the two main show floors, it was certainly a lot easier on the feet of the hacks covering the conference. The food stalls situated around the hall were a hit, and the conversation flowed. Money20/20 Europe aimed to pull off the greatest fintech show in history and certainly didn’t disappoint. Now to look ahead to 2019…
www.ibsintelligence.com
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