Of the many things that digital financial services have accomplished, the most important is making the whole wealth management process user-friendly and self-explanatory.
Many millennial investors’ first encounters with “wealth managers” are typically with older family members. Especially in India’s smaller cities and towns. As a result, until recently, when large-scale migration and sophisticated investment tools sparked a shift in understanding, ‘professional wealth and portfolio management’ was a foreign term.
Nonetheless even though commissioning a wealth manager is quite common now, there is still a dearth of services available in this sector. Though all wealth managers, especially the ones belonging to bigger corporate families, have spread their wings throughout the geography of the country – there are still some areas that are untouched. Consequently, in a country where there is a wealth manager or financial advisor available for every 100 people – there were also cities, towns and villages that had no access to professional help and education for financial planning.
This polarizing disparity was a great cause for concern till the financial services sector got a digital makeover.
In India (and globally) digitization has been nothing but instrumental in transforming the way financial services has been perceived by consumers and stakeholders alike. From making services accessible on the click of a button, to completely eliminating the need to go to a bank – technology has done it all. Amongst all of these things, the most noteworthy thing that the Fintech revolution brought along with it is ‘Inclusivity’.
Easy and Accessible – Digitisation catalyzing financial inclusivity
So, how exactly is digitization making financial services more inclusive? Let me explain this to you below:
1. Location independent:
In 2020, most Indian businesses were briefly shut down due to a national lockout. Even in this desperate situation, however, investors could rely on their financial services provider to always be on their side. This was made possible by personalised mobile apps created by smartphone firms, which literally plucked wealth managers from their cubicles and put them in the hands of consumers. They have access to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, wealth management services are no longer limited to tier 1 and tier 2 cities, but are now available to anyone living in even the most remote part of the country (even the world, if jurisdictional laws permit).
2. Regional connect:
India is a country with 22 official languages and a population of 1.1 billion people. In such a large nation, more than 80% of the population speaks regional languages, with English being used only infrequently. When the pandemic hit in 2020, over 400 million people in the world used the internet for the first time – and many of them did not speak English. As financial services companies went digital, they also made services available in languages other than English. This not only helped the brand gain traction, but it also empowered a vast number of people to become financially self-sufficient and responsible. Wealth Managers from big companies were now offering services in a language that consumers understood right where they were.
3. Lack of human error:
Since wealth management concerns with people investing their hard earned money, consumers are often vary about which portfolio manager they can trust – and even then there is always a room for human error. With the help of digitization, digital wealth managers are now equipped with bots and sophisticated technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning that employ sophisticated algorithms to study heaps of data and derive a conclusion. Thus, making the whole process automatic and relatively error free. This has further helped in reinstating investor faith in newer models of technology and investment.
User- Friendly, Seamless and Self Explanatory
Of the many things that digital financial services have accomplished, the most important is making the whole wealth management process user-friendly and self-explanatory. Financial planning, the stock market, finances, and terminology are all considered dynamic fields that the average person will struggle to comprehend. With the help of seamless portals and applications, digital financial services have debunked these myths and completely put the ball in the hands of consumers. It has encouraged customers to take control of their own finances, bringing an increasing number of people into the realm of financial planning.
