The financial services industry (FSI), a vast and intricate ecosystem, encompasses various stakeholders and dynamic components. From foundational banking to investments, insurance, risk management, fintech, and capital markets, it plays a pivotal role in global economies. However, the landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements that reshape how financial services operate and how consumers engage with them.
This transformation is mostly driven by fintech, the fusion of financial services and technology. McKinsey projects that revenues in the fintech industry will grow nearly three times faster than those in the traditional banking sector between 2023 and 2028. In fact, as the global financial services market expands, projected to grow to $44925.71 billion in 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6%, companies are leveraging cloud and AI technologies to streamline their services and create new offerings to stay competitive and include more people into the banked population.
Discover how leading companies across the Americas region are transforming their business and helping reshape the financial services industry with innovative Microsoft solutions for efficiency, scalability, productivity, security, and customer service customization.
Accelerating operational efficiency
The digital age demands robust infrastructure, and companies like Yape (the leading Peruvian payment method), Libertad Soluciones de Vida (a people’s Finance Corporation in Mexico), Zenus Bank (a global digital bank based in Puerto Rico), Banco Central de Costa Rica (authority responsible of providing bank services to the Government of Costa Rica and financial institutions), and Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais (a financial institution based in Brazil), have risen to the challenge.
In Peru, Yape’s user base grew from half a million to over 12 million in just six years. This exponential growth was supported by a strategic move to Microsoft Azure, which provided the necessary infrastructure to manage a deluge of transactions while launching new services and boosting financial inclusion in the country.
Libertad Soluciones de Vida, a financial institution that provides a range of financial services aimed at promoting financial inclusion in Mexico, embarked on a similar journey, modernizing its services with Microsoft Dynamics and Azure. This transformation allowed in both its internal operations and the way it delivers products and services to the market, slashing service delivery times from 48 hours to a mere 30 minutes – a leap forward in efficiency with the commitment to customer experience in mind.
Headquartered in Puerto Rico, Zenus Bank leveraged Azure to become a pioneer in international banking. Their growth, focused on scalability and security, has enabled them to expand their digital banking services globally, providing their customers with access to US banking services and fast, low-cost global payments.
Banco Central de Costa Rica’s SINPE-TP initiative, also powered by Azure, is revolutionizing public transportation payments. Despite the challenges of coordinating multiple stakeholders, they’ve successfully processed over 14 million transactions, marking a significant step towards a cashless society and modernized infrastructure in Costa Rica.
Brazilian Banco de Desenvolvimento de Minas Gerais (BDMG) also embraced Azure for innovation and customer experience enhancement. Their disaster recovery solutions ensure operational continuity even during adverse situations. Also, cloud adoption positively impacted employee productivity. With its systems running in the cloud, BDMG staff have greater flexibility to work from different locations, enabling secure access to the bank’s systems and enhancing efficiency through Azure Virtual Desktop.
Empowering the Workforce and Driving Efficiency
In the realm of empowering the workforce and enhancing productivity, Banreservas (major bank in Dominican Republic), Banco Itaú (the largest banking institution in Brazilian and the 2nd largest in Latin America), and TD Bank Group (the second largest bank in Canada), leveraged AI to accomplish their business goals.
In Dominican Republic, Banreservas turned to Copilot for Microsoft 365 to empower their workforce through cutting-edge tools to succeed and drive their business forward. AI has unlocked new levels of creativity and productivity in the company, setting a new standard for customer experience in the financial sector.
Itaú Bank in Brazil has embraced GitHub Copilot and Copilot for Microsoft 365 to enhance its software development and business processes. With Copilot, the bank can generate 1 million lines of code, save time and focus on more strategic tasks. It also uses Azure OpenAI Service to read, interpret and classify over 70 thousand legal documents per month.
Similarly, TD Bank Group of Canada leveraged generative AI to enhance customer experiences in its contact centers and accelerate the coding workflow for its engineers. Their AI virtual assistant, provides summarized responses using conversational language, including links to relevant TD policies and procedures; and GitHub Copilot, is helping TD engineers by analyzing the code they’re writing and providing real-time suggestions for completing and testing it – saving engineers up to 20 hours of work over two weeks, boosting efficiency and innovation in the company.
Transforming Service
Protección (Pension fund and investment administrator in Colombia), DiBanka (a Colombian company aimed at improving the financial well-being and inclusion of millions of Colombians who have limited access to formal credit), and Brasilprev (Brazilian leader in insurance with over 30 years in the market) exemplify the transformative impact of AI.
In Colombia, Protección’s use of generative AI for automating severance pay requests reflects its commitment to leveraging technology for better service delivery, aiming to transform its business with AI-driven solutions. Through Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, the company was able to successfully process 22,000 requests, resulting in 50% higher productivity in cases where letters couldn’t be automatically processed by the initial model, and expects to automate 80% of severance pay withdrawal requests through leveraging these solutions.
DiBanka developed a digital platform that supports payroll-deducted loans by leveraging Azure and AI to automate and secure the loan process. By reducing the costs, time, and risks of traditional loans the company has grown to serve 99% of the financial institutions that offer this type of credit in Colombia, with more than 300,000 active users, 7 million transactions and zero impersonations. DiBanka aims to innovate and expand its services in Latin America to improve the financial well-being and inclusion of its affiliates.
Brasilprev, a leading insurance company in Brazil, has taken a major step towards digital transformation. Through their innovative ‘Hub Brasilprev’ platform, powered by Azure OpenAI Service, API Management and Azure Cosmos DB, they have democratized data access and transformed user interaction. This has resulted in an impressive R$ 9.86 billion in business and a remarkable conversion rate of 28% among their target audience. With their digital journey well underway, Brasilprev is poised for even greater success in the future.
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help institutions address their most pressing issues and digitally transform their businesses. Through our secure and compliant cloud, AI platform, and expansive partner ecosystem, financial service institutions can better manage risk across the enterprise, optimize compliance operations, drive to modernize real-time payments, core banking and insurance, and infrastructure, as well as enable a modern workplace, and deliver differentiated customer experiences.
