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What you must do in Today's data-driven world is too big for Excel spreadsheets.
We need automated systems making decisions based on
2019 – or prepare to fail concrete facts and numbers. Why? Because it empowers
both businesses and their customers. And when that
combination occurs, a business is primed for success.

Yes, you need to obtain the right technology and hire
smart talent, but those actions are not step one. Tools and
people won't necessarily guarantee the transformation
that needs to occur within your organization to ensure
success. Additionally, defining a clear strategy on
paper can lead to meaningful success measures and key
performance indicators, but it won't necessarily propel
people to regularly rely on metrics. It needs to be a true
cultural shift with customer centricity as the goal.
The customer is still king

Acquiring banks, processors, ISOs, MLSs and others on
the payments value chain in 2019 will need to embrace
a true data driven culture to realize dynamic customer
By Neetu Shaw insights. There is no doubt that executing (or not) a
Clarity Insights customer centricity data insights culture will define the
winners (or losers).
ttention all acquiring banks, payment proces-
sors, ISOs and merchant level salespeople This reinvention needs to be focused on creating over-
(MLSs): as you make your marketing and busi- arching customer-centric digital platforms that take
A ness plans for 2019, please understand that if advantage of all of the customer data merchant service
creating a data driven culture isn't on the list, you may not providers rely on. Here too, AI, next-gen chat bots and
see success in 2020. machine learning will play a pivotal role in making
seamless, automated customer experiences real. But you
There is no question that by 2020, disruptive fintech and can't do that without an internal culture that supports it.
banking models will have taken hold. A glimpse ahead
shows rampant development and use of blockchain, If you do not make strong, concerted efforts to create a
continued rollout of biometrics, increased focus on data driven culture focused on customer centricity in 2019,
cybersecurity, real-time personalized and automated it's almost certain your merchant portfolios will shrink.
customer experiences, and innovative cognitive and It's not easy. Only 32 percent of companies that aspire to
artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at play. a data driven culture say they have been successful in
creating one, according to NewVantage Partners' 2018 Big
Consider, too, that the amount of data is increasing Data Executive Survey. Cultural resistance to change is the
exponentially: contactless payments, the Internet of biggest reason.
Things, mobility, and social and digital avenues are all
a part of this influx of data. But tomorrow's successful Flipping your organization on its head as you look to
payments companies cannot use that data for business make it more customer centric and data driven will
intelligence purposes without undergoing a broad digital be a process. You will have to undo decades of legacy
culture transformation first. technologies, learn to understand data and rationalize the
shift for entrenched skeptics. But there is no other option,
Time is up not anymore. It's time to embrace change.
You need a real plan – a road map for change readiness
to create a data driven culture. The term "data driven Neetu Shaw is an executive partner at Clarity Insights, servicing the
culture" was defined by Brent Dykes in an Oct. 26, 2017, financial services, insurance, higher education and automotive industry
Forbes article as "an operating environment that seeks to verticals. She is focused on enterprise information and digital transfor-
leverage data whenever and wherever possible to enhance mation solutions, enterprise data, big data, master data management,
business efficiency and effectiveness." What that means is discovery, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) thought-
that going forward you must live and breathe the data. It leadership. Clarity Insights is the largest consulting company in the
needs to be an integrated, hardwired cornerstone of your United States that focuses exclusively on advanced data, cloud and AI
company's culture. solutions. Contact her at nshaw@clarityinsights.com.

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