OK Google, invest my savings into BitCoin – which could exceed $100,000 in market value next year. And financial institutions will need to step up their cyber security game.
First up, Cisco is predicting that financial institutions will incorporate voice-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo and Google into their operations next year. Now Cisco notes that given how much time banks have spent experimenting with chatbots, we shouldn’t expect voice transfers out of the gate. But it’s a promising market, and there’s no doubt many consumers would prefer banking with Alexa than their nearest teller, located a 10-minute drive down the street.
Next, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months – and we’re guessing you haven’t, because you’re listening to this podcast – you’ve probably heard about the value of BitCoin exceeding $15,000 USD this year and wondered how much further it could go. Well, the experts cited by the U.K.’s Telegraph and NBC are predicting that the world’s favourite cryptocurrency could hit $60,000 or even exceed $100,000 next year. According to Gartner, the current combined value of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies worldwide is $155 billion USD, and yet the organization predicts that by the end of 2020, the banking industry will only derive $1 billion in business value from them.
Our last prediction comes from software provider Mitek, which has warned financial institutions to expect 150 million attempts at opening fraudulent accounts in the new year. According to Mitek vice president Sarah Clark, given the extent of 2017’s data breaches institutions should expect more of the same next year – at an accelerated pace – and plan accordingly.