28 Hoosier Banker October 2014 OPERATIONS / TECHNOLOGY When you hear today’s “it” term — big data — does it make you feel overwhelmed, or do you see an immense opportunity for growth? Preferably the latter, because that’s what big data will mean for those financial institutions that learn to harness its potential to track customer behavior … and marry it with activity. In doing so, these banks can take their volumes of existing data and drill down to discover many customer-centric ways of increasing profitability, whether bankwide or targeted to each individual customer. According to a September 2013 Gartner survey, 64 percent of business respondents either have already invested in big data technology, or will do so within the next 24 months — and the banking industry was among the top three spenders last year. Further, cumulative big data spending for the period from 2011 through 2016 is projected to top more than $232 billion. Clearly big data has made the shift from a buzz term surrounded by lots of questions, to a mechanism for redefining the playing field. Financial institutions can leverage this new technology and its advanced analytics and predictive marketing tools to capitalize on big data, craft superior customer experiences and gain the competitive edge. Toward that end, automated solutions are emerging to help financial institutions draw powerful insight from their masses of customer data. Using such robust features as customizable dashboards and reporting functions, cross-application research capabilities, trend analyses and historical views, banks can gain a 360˚ view of their landscape and better predict which products, services and decisions will have the most positive effect on the bottom line. With big data solutions, the customer information is better Big Data Reaps Big Rewards About the Author Jason Young serves as product manager for CSI NuPoint, a division of CSI, Paducah, Kentucky. He is responsible for overseeing CSI’s suite of business intelligence solutions. Young has a diverse banking background, having served as a credit analyst/ underwriter as well as a commercial relationship manager prior to joining CSI. He is a graduate of Murray State University. The author can be reached at 800-545-4274, email: JasonYoung@csiweb.com. CSI is an associate member of the Indiana Bankers Association. Three of its divisions – CSI Managed Services & Locktite Vault, CSI Secure Connect and CSI WatchDOG Social Compliance – are IBA Preferred Service Providers. organized and accessible, allowing users to analyze information — across functions and transactions, products and services — in any manner they choose. These tailored analytics can be saved, shared and accessed daily. In addition, dashboards provide at-a-glance views of an institution’s daily and monthly activities through trending reports and charts — and also can provide “what if” illustrations. For example a bank could determine how its bottom line would be affected if 10 percent of its loans defaulted. However, do not expect these dashboards and analyses alone to increase profitability. Institutions must implement them to their fullest potential and act upon the vital information gained to efficiently derive answers and make decisions that not only drive profitability, but also reduce costs. For instance, a bank can perform an analysis of its branches to determine when teller lines are busiest, and staff those branches accordingly. Or analyze whether a certain type of loan is likely to help — or hurt — the cost-to-income ratios. Big data can be your friend or your foe. This year is setting the tone for which institutions successfully examine their volumes of information to attract, retain and better serve customers — and rise above the competition. t
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