In a short interview, Mark Hookey, Founder & CEO of DeMyst Data, shares his reasons for attending the FI 2020 Global Forum, and outlines the key challenges that need to be overcome in order to achieve full financial inclusion by 2020.
Mark Hookey speaking on the ‘Innovation in Client Data Analytics’ panel at Day 2 of the FI2020 Global Forum
Product design and data analytics
Ultimately, I’m here to focus on product design – figuring out where people are at with this, and what the future holds. I’m here to find out how people can work together to create the most cost-effective, user-friendly, data-driven, and secure financial services products.
There’s an opportunity to build a new financial system from scratch, and this needs to be done right using innovative telecommunications, data analytics, and product design.
What are the key challenges?
1. Accessing data:
- customer permission is needed.
- privacy regulations are tightening up around the world making it harder to regulate.
2. Turning messy data into data that can be used and acted upon can be tricky in order to build a viable credit scorecard.
3. A shift from manual/headwork intensive data to real-time/digital offers up some issues.
4. It can be difficult to package credit-based products and make these accessible to Microfinance lenders.
What are your thoughts about future challenges and opportunities in data analytics, technology, and product design?:
- New financial systems need to be created that harness, analyze and apply data that is available.
- We see verifiable and accurate data from mobile technology, but we also need to access alternative data sources in order to develop credit risk scorecards, for example.
- We need to develop financial systems that leverage the cheapest and best technologies.
- We need to set up transparent systems and services that are well communicated to the borrower.
- People here are talking about “big data”, but there must also be a focus on data analytics and an emphasis on making sure that these analytics are trusted.
- It’s promising that alternative client data-driven technologies are being developed, but nobody is quite there yet.
To see what others are saying and posting about the Global Forum, visit the Financial Inclusion 2020 website and follow #FI2020 on Twitter.