Top 11 Applications of AR & VR in the Financial Industry
The financial industry –that bustle with activities like lending, investing, managing and securing financial assets — plays a prominent role in the global economy. Due to technology-enabled financial solutions, the financial world has evolved over the past 130 years.
Beginning with the development of technologies such as telegraph lines and railroads (for the transmission of financial information), the next phase of financial evolution involves immersive augmented and virtual reality applications. This revolutionary switch to a brand-new digital reality which is powered by VR / AR banking experience would be a great way to prepare for the future digital reality. With the help of best AR VR development services provided by experienced companies, we can start creating ideas and concepts, and start viewing the financial products through the lens of the future.
There’s no doubt that augmented and virtual reality will take the customer experience to a brand-new level in all areas of our lives, including the financial industry. But do you have any idea about what to expect, and what’s the best way for the financial industry to prepare and fully embrace the opportunities of the digital future?
As many niches are trying to incorporate AR/VR into their services, the financial industry is also going through a massive transition and transformation to get the next generation of tech-savvy individuals on their platforms through these latest technologies. The industry has also even started to make an impact and cause disruptions, using these technologies.
Penned down are few applications of AR & VR in the financial industry:
- Biometric Security
These days, cybercrime threats are hanging over every online interaction. To maintain the privacy of customer data, financial organizations need protective measures such as highly encrypted firewalls and multifactor authentication processes (to authorize account access) in place. But then sometimes these security provisions can end up being ineffective and can annoy customers.
Instead of these protective measures, some companies that offer AR VR development services provide login procedures with these latest technologies that use biometric scans of a customer’s face or irises for safe and effective identity verification. Biometric security that is introduced in an AR system (a crucial component of the AR framework) could then connect with a VR world, which can then be used to access VR bank services, make ATM transactions, or make payments.
In the advent of behavioral biometrics, voice recognition is also being integrated with AR in a virtual environment for simple, secure digital banking access. Since biometrics is central to the AR framework, financial service organizations propose more secure and sustainable protection against identity theft and data breach.
2. Customer Acquisition
Financial industries such as banks and other financial institutions are looking to appeal to millennials (the first global generation and the first generation that grew up in the Internet age) more because this generation views many systems differently than other generations as they grew up with technology.
In fact, it has been reported by the figures from the Millennial Disruption Index that 73% of Millennials prefer Google, PayPal, and Apple for financial products over local banks and about 33% of respondents do not see the necessity of banks in the near future. So, to attract and retain customers from this group along with other generations, banks and other institutions are incorporating AR and VR and more technology into their operations.
3. Customer Service
To improve the customer experience, many financial institutions are incorporating AR and VR apps and technologies to their operations and services. For instance: Many banks have AR apps that help customers scan the area with their smartphones and see real-time information about the current location, distance, and services at nearby banks and ATMs.
Some financial institutions have adopted virtual experiences through which clients can connect with assistants (by putting on a headset and accessing the application) who can answer questions with the help of visuals and interactive data modules. This approach of an engaging virtual space for financial services has been remarkably valuable, especially during COVID-19 pandemic as it helps customers get the help they need during the pandemic without even needing to leave their homes. In the future, we might witness advanced AR/VR options such as mortgage calculators and 3D interiors in the AR environment.
4. Data Visualization
Financial industry is a complex area because there is a lot of data to analyze. Therefore, being able to visualize data could be an important tool, especially for traders as it would help them make important decisions about wealth management. When AR and VR are added to data visualization, it makes it easier and faster for advisors, investors, traders, and individuals to visualize data with simplified data breakdowns, and helps to organize large amounts of data.
For instance: Salesforce, an American cloud-based software company uses Oculus Rift to create an immersive 3D environment for analyzing data. Fidelity Labs, a part of Fidelity Investments, has also taken advantage of the technology behind Oculus Rift and created a virtual world called “StockCity”. This VR world provides insights into the stock market — where stock portfolios are turned into a virtual 3D city — and data immersion.
5. Financial Education
AR and VR technologies have huge potential for teaching people new information in the VR Finance, because for both employees and customers of financial institutions, education is important for understanding changes in financial systems. The financial education of a client is also seen as a great way to build on the prospective client and expand network branches.
6. Insurance
To enhance customer experience and create an emotional connection with the financial brand, the insurance ecosystem is looking for innovative engagement with young customers. This can be done through AR/VR technologies, because in the long term, these advanced technologies can help drive cost optimization, reduce wait time, explain complex ideas using visual aids, and more.
7. Recruitment and Training
Some banks these days are using a VR experience to show tech recruits how innovative and tech-savvy the bank is, as it will increase employee learning retention and at the same time provide customers with high-quality service. In recruitment, VR will eliminate the need for the scheduling of live interviews and instead will provide interviewers a virtual avatar where the financial companies can test and hire many employees at the same time, thereby reducing the time and money spent. Along with that, the hired candidates can be given a chance to take virtual office tours as it will help them understand the work culture of the company without actually visiting the office physically.
For instance: Partnering with Bay Area-based virtual reality startup Strivr, Bank of America incorporates AR/VR technology in its recruitment and training area — which in turn gives a bigger presence in its workplace training. It is noted that the financial institution has already piloted the startup’s VR technology with about 400 employees and have already developed VR technology for everything from notary services to fraud detection.
8. Virtual Retail Banking
As the shift towards digitized ecosystem is happening at an incremental pace, the Fintech industry has also become increasingly digitized which makes virtual retail banking to play an increasingly important role in this industry. However, the experience of banking is becoming more personalized and immersive to enhance the customer experience (CX).
For facilitating better interaction and trust in the advice, many banks are chasing with AR and VR providing services such as Virtual assistants and chatbots which have added the element of a personalized customer experience as the technology facilitates the possibility of face-to-face communication anytime, anywhere — without any physical presence.
9. Virtual Trading
With advanced AR or VR stock trading and investing, participants can now track and visualize financial markets with greater depth. There has been a tremendous shift from flat images and charts to holographic visualization, 3D figures, and intuitive heatmaps which shows a revolution in terms of market data analysis. Some companies making trading a virtual experience by creating virtual reality workstations for trading allows users to track, visualize, and track financial markets in depth.
For instance: In 2017, Swiss online bank, Swiss quote introduced a virtual reality trading application that creates a 360° trading wall enabling users to follow stock prices and make trades with a glance.
Another example for virtual trading is Microsoft HoloLens. This virtual trading app of Citi’s gives traders Holographic Workstations, which offers 2D and 3D elements that add to the bank’s existing processes.
10. Virtual Reality Payments
These days, the way we shop and the way we make payments is changing. From digital and online payments, we can expect AR/VR payments, that is, our daily transactions are going to be AR incorporated and can even expect transforming them to a virtual experience. Customers can pick the required items and make payments without using credit cards by wearing an AR-powered headset or smartphone app.
For instance: Visa launched an AR app at the Mobile World Congress in 2018. This app overlays a food outlet heatmap over your surroundings and allows users to integrate with the apps to point to specific parts and order food. Once the order is placed, users can instantly do immersive payment which allows a personalized experience and enhanced real-time interaction with outlets.
Similarly, MasterCard teamed up with Swarovski and launched a VR shopping app. This app allows dynamic purchasing mechanisms for Swarovski’s home décor range, where the users could complete transactions using Masterpass, Mastercard’s digitized service for payment processing.
11. Virtual Branches
The rise of online and mobile banking has changed the banking landscape. With digital-only banks and mobile banks — that are already available — we might come across virtual branches too. If customers are not able to visit a physical branch location for any reason, they will soon be given the possibility to go to a virtual branch, which hopefully would provide the same services but exclusively in a VR environment. These branches could be extremely useful in servicing those in remote areas, whose banking service could be almost identical to that of urban customers.
For instance: Italian bank Widiba has come up with a highly realistic virtual branch, named Widiba Home offers personalized service with all the convenience of online banking. Customers simply had to download the Widiba app, put on a virtual reality headset, and then enter into a virtual branch.
They can talk to advisors, and perform transactions, navigate the branch using their voice to ask for what they want, browse the relevant monitors within the virtual environment (to bring up balances and transactions on their account and cards), check securities and portfolio information, and make contact with personal advisors — just as they would ask a live agent or do in a real branch.
From these applications, we can understand that the financial organizations have always been the forerunners in embracing new-age, cutting-edge, and innovative technologies or every tech trend that has emerged in the marketplace.
The AR and VR technologies turns out to be a significant contributor to the future of financial services, as it will let to create immersive customer experiences, platforms and applications; that would lead to:
- Higher user engagement
- Seamless financial and banking solutions
- Positive brand communication
- Increase the efficiency of certain operations
- Improved user experience
There will undoubtedly be a pronounced effect on many industries as consumer adoption of AR and VR technology is quite big. Moreover, as AR/VR technology becomes more advanced, more mobile, and less expensive, a lot of businesses in various niches will start investing in it.
With the help of professional AR VR app development services, we can help you turn your financial institution into a successful and demanding brand that has a strong emotional connection with your clients and long-term customer loyalty.
Reach us at: contactus@travancoreanalytics.com
