Latest news with #bankingsector
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
The Future Of Banking Apps: How AI Is Reshaping Development
Roman Elsohvili is the Founder and CEO of XData Group, a B2B software development company with a focus on the European banking sector. The digital banking market continues to boom. Dimension Market Research has projected that it will reach $31.3 billion by 2033. However, growth doesn't just happen by itself. The real champion behind this story is technology—more specifically, AI. AI is consistently gaining a greater impact on banking and fintech. It's fundamentally changing how applications are being developed, services are delivered and risks are managed. Let's take a closer look at how this works and what challenges are still ahead. The AI-Powered Toolbox: What's Driving Real Change? Ask any fintech founder or bank CTO about where AI is making the biggest difference today, and a few clear answers are likely to come up—customer-facing chatbots, document generation, compliance automation and so on. In onboarding, for example, AI can help automate document checks and ID verification, drastically cutting down the time it takes to bring in new clients. In compliance and transaction monitoring, AI can perform retrospective analysis, flagging unusual behavior even if it doesn't fit preprogrammed patterns. This helps reduce false positives, which have long been a plague for compliance teams. In customer service, AI-driven chatbots powered by large language models can handle routine queries, support customers 24/7 and often outperform human agents in both speed and consistency. In credit scoring, machine learning (ML) models can evaluate a much broader range of data points, including alternative sources like mobile phone usage or utility bills. This results in faster, more accurate lending decisions and improved risk management. When it comes to fraud prevention, AI is essential. With bad actors also using AI tools to improve their tactics, the industry has no choice but to adopt this tech to match the rising threat level. Why Banks And Fintechs Must Invest In Better Apps Let's be honest: If your app isn't good, you're not in the game. Today, the mobile or web application is the main gateway between a financial service provider and its customers, and users' expectations are very high. They compare your app not to the bank next door but to the best experience they've ever had—often from agile fintechs that put a lot of focus on smart, intuitive interfaces. It's no surprise that players stuck with legacy systems are feeling the pressure. According to OutSystems' State of Application Development Report, nearly half of surveyed financial institutions cited outdated technology as their top innovation barrier, and over half reported that a lack of skilled developers was holding them back. As a result, this is also a space where AI can play a prominent role. How AI Is Reshaping The Way Applications Are Built Setting aside customer-facing features, AI is changing the very architecture of fintech applications. Today, more and more companies are moving to design their applications with AI in mind from day one. Data flows are structured to feed ML models, and the architecture is set up to integrate with internal or third-party ML services. This makes it easier to build smart features directly into the app, from personalized financial advice to automated document review. For developers, AI is also a powerful productivity booster. From writing code snippets to generating test cases, it speeds up workflows and helps smaller teams ship faster. Tools are already available on the market that make it possible to build and deploy models without deep AI expertise. There's also a strategic element to consider here. AI models are becoming more affordable, and leading companies are already planning features that may not be cost-effective today but likely will be in just a few months. It's a smart way to future-proof the roadmap. Not All Smooth Sailing Of course, AI adoption comes with challenges—technical, regulatory and ethical. The biggest hurdle is data. Training robust AI models requires large, high-quality datasets. Established companies might have access to years of support chat transcripts or billions of transactions, but younger fintechs often don't. That's a tough gap to bridge. There's also the issue of regulation. With Europe's AI Act and other global frameworks emerging, fintechs and banks are under pressure to ensure transparency and accountability in how their AI makes decisions. "Black box" systems just won't cut it—especially in compliance and AML, where regulators need to understand the rationale behind every flagged transaction. Security is another concern. When using external APIs or non-self-hosted AI models, protecting sensitive financial and customer data becomes even more critical. Once again, explainability is a must—not just for regulators but for internal teams and end users as well. The good news is that there are ways to tackle these challenges. Addressing The Challenges Proactively First, responsible AI design starts with anticipating regulatory demands. The smarter fintech companies are already building explainability and transparency into their AI systems, documenting decision making steps and auditing model performance to detect bias or drift. Techniques like explainable AI (XAI), which generate human-readable justifications for decisions, are becoming more common. These might look like simple cause-and-effect summaries that show why a transaction was flagged or why a loan was denied. In high-stakes use cases like compliance or AML, many companies still leave the final decision to a human and use AI as a decision-support tool rather than a full replacement. The road ahead is still long, and we shouldn't expect AI to solve every problem a business has to deal with, but it's already solving many of them. For banks and fintechs willing to experiment, invest and learn quickly, the payoff can be huge—smarter applications, happier customers, faster development and better compliance. In a market where your app is your handshake, storefront and sales pitch all in one, using AI to make it better isn't just an option. It's the path forward. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NAB responds to wild conspiracy theory about customer accounts being frozen
Australians have been up in arms about a policy from one of the Big Four banks that doesn't even exist. Multiple posts have appeared on social media claiming NAB customers could be frozen out of their accounts if they made "mean" comments online. The fake claim even alleged that you could have your account closed down in certain circumstances. Aussies were furious and said it was a gross overreach of power. However, a bank spokesperson told Yahoo Finance these incorrect allegations are linked to a policy that was brought in two years ago. RELATED NAB worker saves grandmother from $50K heartbreak after noticing tiny detail Common neighbour problem plaguing Aussie houses Major inflation change following RBA's shock interest rate decision Where did the NAB conspiracy come from? The incorrect claims have been floating around since 2023, but they have recently been doing the rounds again on social media pages like Facebook and Threads. It all started when NAB updated its terms and conditions to protect customers from financial abuse. The new policy would mean you could have your account frozen or closed if you engaged in "unacceptable conduct". When you send money to someone, even if it's just 1 cent, you can include a message in the description or reference section. Perpetrators of financial abuse had been using this to send offensive or harmful messages to certain people and NAB's change was aimed at stamping out this behaviour. 'We're blocking around 15,000 abusive messages each month sent through payment channels and today's move further puts financial abusers on notice that we will do everything we can to protect innocent people,' NAB's head of customer vulnerability, Michael Chambers, said two years ago when the policy update was brought in. Many other banks have similar policies to protect people from financial furious over fake claims While the policy change had good intentions, people misconstrued how it could affect their accounts. Many started posting on social media that you could have your money frozen purely for just saying something nasty anywhere on the internet. "If the NAB are going to scrutinise your social media accounts it means they have too much time on their hands. I would close my account it they did that," wrote one person. "So NAB is now in charge or Facebook ??? If my bank does anything like that I'd just close my account," added another. There was even an article online promoting the conspiracy. While the theory has roots as far back as 2023, people have resurrected it in recent weeks for an unknown reason. These new posts have been liked hundreds of times and shared widely across the internet. What does NAB have to say about the misinformation? When approached by Yahoo Finance, NAB declined to elaborate further about the conspiracy. But it's worth mentioning that the changes made in 2023 only applied to activity on NAB's banking channels like internet banking and the mobile app. NAB doesn't have the power to close your account based on things you might say on the internet. 'Concerns about financial abuse remains one of the top reasons customers get in touch with our customer support team, NAB Assist,' Chambers said two years ago. 'If a NAB account holder is now found to be perpetrating financial abuse, we will be able to suspend or terminate their services. 'We're taking a firm stand against financial abuse, and we aren't resting there. We're working with other banks to help develop a consistent approach across the industry.'Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
07-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Nigeria Ends Loan Waivers, Orders Banks to Submit Capital Plans
The Central Bank of Nigeria has given lenders until the end of the week to submit plans to address capital shortfalls and ended waivers on troubled loans introduced during the pandemic, as it moves to strengthen the banking sector's resilience. Lenders are to submit 'a comprehensive capital restoration plan to the CBN on or before the 10th working day, following the end of the quarter from June,' it said in a circular on its website on Monday. Plans must include current provisioning status, restructured loans, capital adequacy calculations and additional Tier 1 capital instruments and will be subject to regulatory review and approval, it said.
Zawya
25-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
CBUAE suspends the onboarding of new customers in the Islamic window of a bank for six months
Abu Dhabi: The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) has suspended the onboarding of new customers on the Islamic Window of a bank operating in the UAE, for six months and imposed a financial sanction of 3,502,214, pursuant to Article 137 of the Decretal Federal Law No. (14) of 2018 Regarding the Central Bank and Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities, and its amendments. The sanctions result from the CBUAE's Sharia supervision examinations, which revealed the bank's non-compliance with the instructions related to Sharia' Governance of the Islamic Window and the provisions of the Decretal Federal Law No. (14) of 2018 Regarding the Central Bank and Organisation of Financial Institutions and Activities, and its amendments. The CBUAE, through its supervisory and regulatory mandates, endeavors to ensure that all banks and their staff, abide by the UAE laws, regulations and standards established by the CBUAE to maintain transparency and integrity of the banking sector and safeguard the UAE financial system.
Arabian Business
25-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Business
UAE Central Bank gold reserves hit $7.46bn in Q1 2025
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) significantly expanded its gold reserves in the first quarter of 2025, adding AED4.444bn ($1.21bn) to reach a total of AED27.425bn ($7.46bn) by the end of March, up from AED22.981bn ($6.25bn) at the close of 2024. The figures, published in the Central Bank's latest statistical bulletin, highlight robust activity across the UAE's banking sector, with notable growth in deposits and electronic transfers. CBUAE statistics Demand deposits climbed to AED1.147tn ($312.24bn), up from AED1.109tn ($302.04bn) at the end of December 2024. This included AED856.062bn ($232.92bn) in local currency and AED291.116bn ($79.3bn) in foreign currencies Savings deposits increased to AED338.788bn ($92.2bn), up from AED317.48bn ($86.4bn) Time deposits reached AED991.757bn ($269.9bn), with AED614.854bn ($167.5bn) in local currency and AED376.9bn ($102.4bn) in foreign currencies Total transfers conducted through the UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) hit AED5.449tn ($1.48tn) in Q1 2025. These comprised: AED3.331tn ($903.5bn) in bank-to-bank transfers AED2.118tn ($574.4bn) in customer transfers The value of cheques cleared via digital imaging in the first three months of 2025 stood at AED351.359bn ($96bn) across 5.615 million cheques. In March alone, AED116.712bn ($31.8bn) worth of cheques were processed. Meanwhile, cash withdrawals from the Central Bank during Q1 totalled AED63.887bn ($17.39bn), while cash deposits reached AED47.124bn ($12.83bn).
