If new data sources and analytical methodologies allow financial service providers to develop a 360-degree view of customers, how can these insights be used to enhance both client value and firm value? More specifically, can these new data-driven insights be used to develop services that meet the needs of underserved individuals?
These are some of the questions insight2impact (i2i) is looking forward to investigating at the roundtable discussion we will be hosting during the Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO) Africa 2017 conference in Johannesburg on 5 July. 

The theme of CDAO Africa for 2017 is “Driving Data Governance & Quality for Actionable Insights” and the South African senior data experts of key financial services providers (FSPs) will be attending the event and participating in our roundtable luncheon. 

Some of the questions we will be exploring include: 

  • Whether the FSPs are using alternative/new data to inform product design?
  • What role social media data/insights are likely to play in the financial services sector over the next few years?
  • How are financial services organisations innovating in terms of data, specifically in terms of financial inclusion? 
  • Whether FSPs in Africa experience unique challenges when it comes to data and how the advances in data analytics can be best applied by FSPs in developing markets?

Moderator of the i2i roundtable discussion, Ekow Duker, Managing Director at Ixio Analytics, says, “Perhaps the most useful thing to ask is how open financial service providers are to experiment.  Experimentation or 'test and learn’, is core to real world analytics programs. It is only by trying things out repeatedly on small controlled samples, that a company builds a strong understanding of how to engage with, and serve its customers optimally.”

“Large, traditional banks typically find it difficult to countenance the idea of experimentation. Risk aversion is rewarded, with the result that these organisations are often out of step with their customers' evolving needs and choices,” he maintains.

Do the representatives from the FSPs agree? Although the roundtable discussion is an invitation-only event, you can read the views expressed by the heads of data of Zoona, Hollard Insurance Company and Barclays Africa during a series of pre-CDAO interviews. 


If you have any related questions or would like to contribute to the discussion please email our Head of Client Insights, abenaa@i2ifacility.org.