Intelligent Products
Intelligent Products: Making Positive Change for Payments
The dramatic acceleration of the electronic payment industry has generated a ton of data. We’re talking about massive amounts of transactional and behavioral information collected across every touchpoint—search, social media posts, conversations with customer service or support agents, and the checkout process itself, to name but a few areas.
While companies have been successful in collecting data, improper setup of their data infrastructure is holding many back from obtaining actionable insights. In addition, despite the increased volume of rich data points, the payments space hasn’t fully reaped its potential. Tedious processes are still inherent in activities such as extending credit to customers, and numerous instances of compliance violations and fraud claims remain.
Let’s look at what is standing in the way of progress and explore how Intelligent Products can benefit payments.
The opportunities for intelligent processing
With an estimated $8.49 trillion total transaction value worldwide for 2022, it’s clear that there’s a considerable volume of information associated with digital payments at this scale. (1) This ever-growing amount of data is far more than humans could ever parse manually.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is better equipped to identify patterns and make predictions at a rate that keeps pace with the volume of data that’s become available. By automating manual processes, employees can focus on solving more challenging and personally rewarding problems. The operational process becomes smoother, and companies are better able to decrease the financial risk associated with human error. AI has been proven to protect data quality, ensure greater compliance, save money, enhance customer experience, and advance efficiency.
Before getting too excited, it’s important to remember that the goal is not to automate the workforce and remove people from it entirely.
Humans vs. machines? No. Humans and machines.
When AI supercomputer Deep Blue beat world chess great Gary Kasparov back in 1997, many feared this was the beginning of the end of human dominion over intelligence—or at least board games!
After the match, Deep Blue team chief Chung-Jen Tan said, “This is not about man versus machine. This is really about how we humans use technology to solve difficult problems.” Since then, we’ve radically expanded our understanding and use of AI and machine learning (ML) and found ways to use machines to complement our skills across a wide variety of industries and use cases.
Adoption of AI has been growing steadily and is at 35%, a four-point increase over 2021. Forty-four percent of companies are embedding enhanced intelligence into their current processes and applications. (2) AI has advanced so rapidly that a new generation of innovation has emerged. Intelligent products.
5 best practices for intelligent product ideation
We came together in Mountain View, California to explore how clients could capitalize on the intersection of AI and business, with insights into breakthrough technology from Microsoft and NVIDIA. We collaborated on a half-day tailored experience with 1:1 breakout sessions, led by our experience design and machine learning leaders. What did we learn?
- Start from the business priority. It’s not rocket science—zero in on what matters to your CEO. Business priorities are clearly outlined and there is buy-in from your peers, so target those priorities and explore how your team can enable them.
- It’s not about the technology. Focus on the outcome you are trying to achieve. Whether it’s dynamic supply chain optimization or better patient outcomes, start to peel back the layers and articulate a challenge (or two) you need to address.
- What if we built an MVP? Yep, we’re going there. If we had to tackle that challenge, how would we do it? Think: people, process, technology, and commercial implications.
- Every industry is doing something different, which also means you have the freedom to try something new. You are not alone; keep the priority you are solving for top of mind—and keep going.
- Iterate and see how it plays into your long-term plans. The first try may exceed your expectations; it’s the second and third iteration that will trip you up. But with a bit of vision and an AI operating model, you can break some glass and truly innovate.
Intelligent products meet increasing demands
Intelligent products are the culmination of technology, intelligent operations, and experience. These dynamic products gather their own data, then analyze and transform it into knowledge that is used to continuously optimize and improve over time. Check out this article for a comprehensive look at intelligent products.
There is no better way to transform outdated payment processes and advance digital transformation than to leverage the power of intelligent products. Intelligent products are adaptive, personalized, and constantly learning. When used for payments, they help carry out time-consuming processes at scale faster, more efficiently, and with less bias than humans.
Several areas where intelligent products are making an impact within payments include:
Intelligent products are adaptive, personalized, and constantly learning.
(1) Statista Search Department. (October 2022). Digital Payments - Worldwide. [Link]
(2) IBM. (2022). IBM Global Adoption Index 2022. [Link]
(3) The Payments Association. (2021). Using AI Intelligently: Smart ways to use Artificial Intelligence in Payments. [Link]
(4) Insights Magazine. (May 2022). The Payments Fraud Ripple Effect. [Link]
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