Change is the only constant we can depend on, and this adage couldn’t be truer for technology. Technology keeps evolving and opening up new possibilities. Bank risk technology is evolving at a rapid pace, making new features available for bankers, helping banks become leaner while increasing productivity.

While rapid advances in technology have become the norm, the year 2020 is special when it comes to focus on technology. The shutdowns caused by the pandemic forces businesses to shift to work from home, which required them to use more tech solutions for business continuity purposes. There has never been this much focus on technology in the banking industry, which has resulted in many exciting new features being added to banking risk management solutions.

Here are 4 of the most exciting features which all bankers should know about:

  • Predictive Analytics
  • Content Feeds
  • KRI Tracking
  • Real-Time Intelligence

Predictive Analytics

Analytics have always been an important part of risk management solutions. What has changed, however, is the nature of these analytics. Most risk management solutions offered real-time analytics and metric tracking, but new solutions are now offering predictive analytics. Instead of simply providing data about the current situation of the organization’s risk portfolio, predictive analytics provide insights into the future situation of the risk portfolio. This means that banks can detect problematic trends and growing risks before they are actualized, thus enabling them to proactively mitigate risks.

This has major ramifications for the way banks operate. Risk has usually been a real-time process where banks continuously monitor risks to ensure that all risks are managed. Predictive analytics give banks the upper hand – instead of waiting around to see which risks are the most significant, banks can prepare for what will probably be the most significant risks in the coming quarter.

Key Risk Indicators are a great way to ensure that the important metrics are always being monitored and that any significant changes are detected as quickly as possible. Click To Tweet

Content Feeds

We live in the information era. However, that information is only useful if it reaches us at the right time. Important risk and regulatory information is often spread out across different publications, news stories, and memos from regulatory agencies. Risk managers have to manually look for important information so they can understand how risks are evolving and what the bank needs to do. Risk management solutions are now offering content feeds that deliver curated relevant information all in one place.

This means that when the risk manager logs into the system, they will be provided with a continuously updating feed of important information related to risk, compliance, regulations, markets, industries, and much more. This significantly decreases the time that risk managers must spend searching for information while also decreasing the likelihood of important updates being missed or overlooked. The information provided in the content feeds is personalized according to the organization, its location, and the industry it operates in.

KRI Tracking

Key Risk Indicators are a great way to ensure that the important metrics are always being monitored and that any significant changes are detected as quickly as possible. There is a renewed focus on KRI tracking in modern risk management solutions. The pandemic has made businesses realize that they need a better way to detect upcoming risks, because a large portion of the business community was blindsided by the shutdowns caused by the pandemic.

Banks are now tracking more KRIs than ever before, with a focus on KRIs that can indicate upcoming troubles. Many banks are now focusing on credit related KRIs – they want to know how many businesses are defaulting on loans, how many businesses are demanding more credit, and so on, because these metrics provide insights into market movements. Banks are also looking at KRIs such as unemployment rates and the rate at which consumers are spending money – both important indicators about how the economy is performing.

Real-Time Intelligence

Bankers don’t just want information – they want actionable intelligence and insights which allow them to make the right decisions for the future of the bank. There has been an increasing focus on intelligence in modern risk management solutions. A great tool which bank risk management solutions now use is risk mapping. When a risk management solution is implemented, a risk map is created which tells the solution the relationship between regulations, risks, controls, policies, documents, and much more. This enables the risk management system to quickly assess the implications of risks and regulatory changes.

There are several other similar features, all focused on providing intelligence. The executive board can see the different between inherent risk, residual risk, and then see what the trends indicate about future risks. Executive dashboards provide instant updates about significant risk movements and the progress of risk mitigation activities across the organization. All these intelligence providing tools come together to ensure that bankers now have more information and insight into banking activities and risk management than ever before.

Wondering how your bank can get these features and tools? Get in touch with our risk experts for a demonstration of how easy it will be to implement them for your organization.