Early in my financial services career one of my managers told me there will never be a financial transaction allowed that is not sealed by an inked signature on paper. A pretty strong prediction, but he didn’t believe the industry would ever change to allow anything else. I think of him whenever I come across significant changes in business and it reinforces for me that change is a constant and nothing is ever written in stone.
One recent change that caught my eye was in an article on Money.com – ‘Mastercard Wants You to Pay with a Selfie’. Credit card user authentication has gone through many changes in the drive to ensure legitimate transactions – from signature, to pin, to chip card. Now biometrics looks like the next evolution. Whether facial recognition authentication via a ‘selfie’ or fingerprint authentication via a finger scan, making user verification as easy as a swipe or a click of your phone is a smart move. Not only will it engage a very huge ‘selfie obsessed’ demographic, it makes use of something we have with us all of the time, with the added benefit of not having to remember passwords or codes.
While it may not be 100% foolproof – a blink of an eye is required to ensure that the selfie is real – it does move transaction security to a whole new level. And, it is only the start of the move to biometrics. If the predictions prove right – your heart beat could be next.
Another recent prediction that caught my eye was an article on MSN.com – The robot revolution could wipe out 2.1 million jobs by 2020. A more alarming prediction from FuturistSpeaker Thomas Frey is that 2 billion jobs are to disappear by 2030. Some sectors thought to be most impacted by this change are transportation (think driverless cars), education (think Apple’s iTunes U) and manufacturing (hello 3D printers).
While all of this may seem dire, I personally feel that change creates new opportunities and industries. While some jobs fade, others sprout up. Going back to my early financial services days, the introduction of the automatic teller machine certainly changed the need for teller positions, but the manufacturing and maintenance of ATMs became a growing sector.
The key is to be aware of coming changes and work to adapt to them. Thinking things will always stay the same is a sure pathway to falling behind.
