“The challenge is to go from Big Data to personalized experiences”

This new approach to Big Data was discussed at the round table with BBVA’s Chief Data Scientist Marco Bressan in the 4YFN forum, one of the most popular spaces at the mobile conference dedicated to envisioning what the future hold for technology over next four years. Entrepreneurs, start-ups, accelerators and possible investors joined the conversation.

Together with representatives from Amazon and Facebook, Bressan shared his vision regarding how to combine Big and Small data to obtain information that is relevant for each individual.

“Efforts are now focused on linking this fundamental information for each customer and translating it into services. The challenge is to go from Big Data to personalized experiences,” he affirmed.

In order to become part of the customer’s experience, the financial industry has to be capable of providing information needed to make decisions. “The role of banks is no longer limited to managing transactions. It now involves making their customers’ financial decisions easier".

"If a customer wants to make a purchase, we have to tell them if they can and give them the necessary tools to achieve their goal. This could mean providing financing, including insurance, if needed, or even showing them a savings plan so they can make that purchase, whether it’s a house or a bicycle. This is how we can be part of customers’ experience,” Bressan noted.

Data-driven services

Work is already underway at BBVA to develop these services. One example is Commerce 360, the platform designed for small businesses. It provides them relevant information about their business in order to make management decisions based on aggregate, anonymous data from card transactions. “This information only used to be available to big corporations,” Bressan added.

BBVA is also working on a service of personal financial advisors who would learn about each customer’s spending habits and help them prepare for possible upcoming events like an insurance payment or their next vacation.

Security and the privacy of customers’ data are obviously a priority for these technologies.

“Banks have a vested interest in maintaining our customers’ trust. It is our most important asset,” Bressan stressed.

 Automated decision-making

Looking ahead, like the Visa Developer Summit panel on the digital transformation, the future of data analysis and machine learning goes much further.

“The next step is to have automated decision-making,” Bressan affirmed.

“Big Data’s first goal was to help capture valuable data for organizations. Now we are trying to help with evidence-based decision-making. The next step is to simply eliminate certain decisions, which will be taken automatically,” concluded BBVA’s Chief Data Scientist.