The concept of banking first sprung up around 8000 BC. Then, there came various drastic changes to expand their services and innovate their business models. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are applied to help banks and financial institutions nowadays. A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) showed that 77% of banking executives believe that the use of AI will ultimately differentiate between winning and losing banks.

This pandemic has triggered a sudden socioeconomic shift from physical to digital. There is a rapid switch to digital channels. Recent research by YouGov was conducted in June 2021. And that revealed that digital services have become the de facto way of conducting business and access services during the pandemic. EIU’s survey showed that enhancing the user experience through better personalisation ranked first in the most valuable uses of AI.

Customer propositions are no longer fit-for-all. It involves both banking and non-banking products and services. To identify the customers’ needs the banks must take an entirely new approach to innovation. They should adopt a customer-centric view. This starts with understanding the customer needs. AI makes it much easier to analyse customer preferences. The redesigning of customer loyalty program gives banks an accurate understanding of customer. Effective personalization offers customers not only better leads but also a more unique experience. The customer experience can be improved by applying AI. Banks must also build out their capabilities to strike new partnerships.

Businesses across all industries are working hard to retain their customers, including banks. AI can become a banking institutions’ superpower. This can take the customer experience to new heights, resulting in happier and more loyal customers. It will also reduce a bank’s operating costs and enable increased revenue per customer. To become AI First, banks must focus on streamlining their technology layer. They also require a strategy to engage customers through channels owned by them and their non-banking partners. Business and technology must work hand in hand, with cross-functional teams breaking up organisational silos.

Blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare has raised $680 million. This is through a funding round, which is led by SoftBank. According to the company, it includes players such as ex-England international Rio Ferdinand and Spain’s Gerard Pique. Paris-based Sorare said that the investment valued the company at $4.3 billion. Sorare is an online game, since 2018. Here players buy officially licensed cards that represents soccer players. They can build teams and play against each other. This is based on the players’ performance in real-life games.

The cards are traded in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The market for NFTs has seen major growth in 2021. Michel Combes, president of SoftBank Group International, said that they think NFTs represent a new paradigm in the collectability, usability, and engagement with assets. This evolution from physical assets to digital assets is very powerful. This also creates a lot of exciting potential business models. NonFungible.com is a website that tracks NFT market data. According to them, Sorare is the largest sports-based NFT platform by sales volume. They are planning to open an office in the United States. So that they can expand into other games out of Sorare.

Nicolas Julia, CEO and co-founder of Sorare said that they saw the immense potential that blockchain and NFTs brought to unlock a new way for football clubs, footballers, and their fans to experience a deeper connection with each other. They believe that this is a huge opportunity to create the next sports entertainment giant. Since January 2021, there have been $150 million of sales on Sorare. The fundraising round was SoftBank’s first time investing in Sorare. SoftBank’s Latin America fund also contributed. Other investors in Sorare’s raise are such as venture capital firms Accel and Bessemer Ventures, Pique, Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann and Spain’s Cesar Azpilicueta.

Many global industry leaders believes that mobile-first technologies will be critical to the delivery process in the next five years. To keep their expansion plans on track, the focus for transportation and logistics (T&L) organisations needs to be on integration of new and existing systems. A recent global research report by SOTI, interviewed 550 IT decision-makers in the T&L industry. Almost three-quarters in the eight countries have already invested in mobile technology wearables or IoT solutions. So that they can speed up the delivery process.

75% of T&L leaders, in the last year has confirmed that their organization has invested considerably in new technology. 50% of global T&L leaders believe that mobile-first technologies will increase the speed of their delivery process. The role of IoT has the potential to automate and digitize the most manual and time-consuming tasks. They also enhance the accuracy of information. 45% of respondents revealed that they still update multiple systems manually.

24% believe that wearables will play a more important role in this strive towards improved worker productivity, customer satisfaction and real-time connectivity throughout the supply chain. The industry has legacy systems. Decision makers are in a rush to change the status quo but forgets about the transitional element. This led to a positive intention, in which 57% believe that legacy systems have prevented their organization from upscaling their operations. 72% believe that the actual issue is that their systems and new technologies are not integrated adequately.

That inability of respondents to effectively integrate new systems is causing employees at 98% of T&L companies to lose time. This is a hit to shipment delivery successes, and ultimately customer reputations. 70% confirmed that reducing downtime of mobile devices in the field is their top concern. Without effective integration the new horizon remains in the distance. Hence, addressing this disconnect between legacy and mobile should be the priority. Integration is the final link in a chain of investments. Not all industries are putting short-term pressures on themselves to realise digital and mobile benefits. By integrating new systems, T&L organisations can build their own legacies over the next exciting five years.