Fintech is the information and communication technology financial services providers use to make transactions and communication with and between their customers more reliable, safer, faster and cheaper. Fintech does not limit itself to established financial institutions, but extends to a broad landscape of start-ups and traditional businesses, all with the common denominator that they use a range of IT innovations in their own operations and their customer service.

The question is how these IT innovations affect your governance, risk management, compliance and systems. How can you leverage innovations such as continuous monitoring, robotic process automation (RPA), the Internet of Things, self-learning software and distributed ledgers to benefit your organisation? BDO approaches IT innovations from two fundamental perspectives: ‘smart’ and ‘ability’.

Processes without human intervention

Smart refers to designing and redesigning systems such that the processes relying on those systems automatically self-perform, without human intervention, as soon as certain conditions are met. An example would be programming a smart contract to automatically start the delivery process of a product or service to a certain customer once that customer has made payment. A back-office robot can then carry out all the associated routine actions autonomously.

Higher quality

Ability refers to designing and redesigning systems such that the individuals and organisations relying on those systems can achieve a higher quality. An example would be a continuous monitoring system created for a client of an accounting firm to streamline its internal control function. This allows auditors to work more efficiently and saves the customer time (‘auditability’). What’s more, the client’s controller has access to reliable and timely information at all times, so that their reports add real value (‘controllability’).

What BDO can do for you

BDO can offer input in developing a vision for the future of your organisation; we design, organise and monitor the technical implementation of IT innovations. Whether it concerns developing a back-office robot, a distributed ledger, a continuous monitoring system, the Internet of Things, self-learning software, data analysis or process mining, we look at IT innovations from an overall perspective and call in specialists where needed.

Do you want to make certain processes less susceptible to fraud? To achieve the envisaged process improvement, we can use a combination of distributed ledgers, continuous monitoring, robotics and process mining.

Full-scope approach

BDO will put together a small team of experts to serve as your point of contact. They oversee the entire playing field and know all the ins and outs of the issues that affect your organisation. These experts can draw on the specialist knowledge of a large international firm with a wide range of expertise. This allows you to benefit from short lines of communication at local level, while leveraging global specialist knowledge to develop and redevelop IT systems that are fit for a future in which efficiency and agility are crucial to the continuity of organisations.

Want to find out more about how BDO can help your organisation? Please feel free to contact one of our specialists for an informal chat with no strings attached.