Having worked in the banking industry for the past 4 years, this topic interests me in particular. I’ve come across several articles of how many of the leading banks around the world have started adopting (or are planning to adopt) big data analytics to gain a competitive advantage in the banking industry. Research around this topic shows that there are numerous benefits or opportunities for banks from harnessing the power of big data that go beyond reducing cash transactions.

There are various opportunities in the banking industry for exploiting big data analytics. It enables banks to obtain a holistic view of the customer, which is useful for enhancing consumer experiences by personalizing services and products. Targeted marketing can be achieved to increase share of wallet and acquiring new customers by understanding customer needs and wants. It can also help in detecting consumer attrition and money laundering activities for managing banking risks. Trend/Sentiment analysis technique can be applied to determine which products and services are most or least desirable by consumers.

However harnessing big data has its share of challenges. Banks must be aware of and comply with customer data privacy regulations. Data management challenges around data quality and quantity, especially data aggregation and consolidation. It would be interesting to explore the opportunities and challenges that banks in India (and maybe other countries as well) face in harnessing the power big data. I look forward to reading your future blog posts