The financial services sector (FSI), a vast and intricate ecosystem, encompasses various stakeholders and dynamic components. From fundamental banking to investments, insurance, risk management, fintech, and capital markets, it plays a vital role in global economies. However, the landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements that are reshaping how financial services operate and how consumers engage with them.
This transformation is driven primarily by fintech, the fusion of financial services and technology. McKinsey projects that fintech sector revenues will grow almost three times faster than those of the traditional banking sector between 2023 and 2028. In fact, as the global financial services market expands, projected to grow to US$44,925.71 billion in 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.6%, companies are leveraging cloud and AI technologies to optimize their services and create new offerings to remain competitive and include more people in the banked population.
Discover how leading companies across the Americas are transforming their businesses and helping to reshape the financial services industry with innovative Microsoft solutions for efficiency, scalability, productivity, security, and personalized customer service.
Accelerating operational efficiency
The digital age demands robust infrastructure, and companies like Yape (the leading Peruvian payment method), Libertad Soluciones de Vida (a popular financial corporation in Mexico), Zenus Bank (a global digital bank headquartered in Puerto Rico), the Central Bank of Costa Rica (the authority responsible for providing banking services to the Costa Rican government and financial institutions), and the Development Bank of Minas Gerais (a financial institution based in Brazil) have accepted the challenge.
In Peru, Yape 's user base grew from half a million to over 12 million in just six years. This exponential growth was supported by a strategic shift to Microsoft Azure, which provided the necessary infrastructure to manage a surge in transactions while launching new services and increasing financial inclusion in the country.
Libertad Soluciones de Vida, a financial institution that provides a range of financial services aimed at promoting financial inclusion in Mexico, embarked on a similar journey, modernizing its services with Microsoft Dynamics and Azure. This transformation enabled improvements in both its internal operations and the way it delivers products and services to the market, reducing service delivery time from 48 hours to just 30 minutes—a leap in efficiency with a commitment to customer experience in mind.
Based in Puerto Rico, Zenus Bank leveraged Azure to become a pioneer in the international banking sector. Its growth, focused on scalability and security, allowed them to expand their digital banking services globally, providing their customers with access to US banking services and fast, low-cost global payments.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica's, also powered by Azure, is revolutionizing public transport payments. Despite the challenges of coordinating various stakeholders, they have successfully processed over 14 million transactions, marking a significant step towards a cashless society and modernized infrastructure in Costa Rica.
The Development Bank of Minas Gerais (BDMG) has also adopted Azure for innovation and to enhance the customer experience. Its disaster recovery solutions ensure operational continuity even in adverse situations. Furthermore, the adoption of the cloud has positively impacted employee productivity. With its systems running in the cloud, the BDMG team has greater flexibility to work from different locations, allowing secure access to the Bank's systems and increasing efficiency through Azure Virtual Desktop.
Empowering the workforce and driving efficiency
In the field of workforce training and productivity enhancement, Banreservas (the largest bank in the Dominican Republic), Banco Itaú (the largest banking institution in Brazil and the second largest in Latin America), and TD Bank Group (the second largest bank in Canada) have leveraged AI to achieve their business goals.
Banreservas turned to Copilot for Microsoft 365 to empower its workforce with cutting-edge tools to succeed and drive its business forward. AI unlocked new levels of creativity and productivity within the company, setting a new standard for customer experience in the financial sector.
Itaú Bank in Brazil adopted GitHub Copilot and Copilot for Microsoft 365 to enhance its software development and business processes. With Copilot, the bank can generate 1 million lines of code, save time, and focus on more strategic tasks. It also uses Azure OpenAI Service to read, interpret, and classify more than 70,000 legal documents per month.
Similarly, TD Bank Group has leveraged generative AI to enhance customer experiences in its contact centers and accelerate the coding workflow for its engineers. Its AI virtual assistant provides concise answers using conversational language, including links to relevant TD policies and procedures; and GitHub Copilot is helping TD engineers by analyzing the code they are writing and providing real-time suggestions for completing and testing it – saving up to 20 hours of work in two weeks, increasing efficiency and innovation across the company.
Transformative service
Protección (a Colombian pension and investment fund manager), DiBanka (a Colombian company that aims to improve the financial well-being and inclusion of millions of Colombians with limited access to formal credit), and Brasilprev (a leading Brazilian insurance company with over 30 years in the market) exemplify the transformative impact of AI.
Protección's use of generative AI to automate claims reflects its commitment to leveraging technology for better service delivery, aiming to transform its business with AI-driven solutions. Through Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service, the company successfully processed 22,000 claims, resulting in 50% increased productivity in cases where the initial model could not automatically process the claims, and expects to automate 80% of claims withdrawal requests by leveraging these solutions.
DiBanka has developed a digital platform that supports payroll loans, leveraging Azure and AI to automate and secure the loan process. By reducing the costs, time, and risks of traditional loans, the company has grown to serve 99% of financial institutions offering this type of credit in Colombia, with over 300,000 active users, 7 million transactions, and zero fraud. DiBanka aims to innovate and expand its services in Latin America to improve the financial well-being and inclusion of its members.
Brasilprev, a leading insurance company, has taken a major step towards digital transformation. Through its innovative 'Hub Brasilprev' platform, powered by Azure OpenAI Service, API Management, and Azure Cosmos DB technology, they have democratized access to data and transformed user interaction. This has resulted in an impressive R$ 9.86 billion in business and a remarkable 28% conversion rate among their target audience. With its digital journey well underway, Brasilprev is poised for even greater success in the future.
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help institutions solve their most pressing problems and digitally transform their businesses. Through our secure and compliant cloud, AI platform , and broad partner ecosystem, financial institutions can better manage enterprise-wide risk, streamline compliance operations, modernize real-time payments, essential banking and insurance services and infrastructure, enable a modern workplace, and deliver differentiated customer experiences.
