Most sought-after skills for BFSI careers in 2020

Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industries contribute a significant percentage to the global Gross Domestic Product. As BFSI businesses develop to meet 21st-century demands, the integration of solutions such as AI, used by prominent banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, shows promise of major improvement to everyday operations. 

Financial institutions that were quick to embrace the new future of work realities in light of COVID-19, are on the path to success. The new future of work consists of new environments, new ways to collaborate and communicate, new methods of using technology to augment human capabilities, and new digital skill sets.

Robert Walters’ 2020 Salary Survey revealed that the demand for professionals in the banking and insurance sector will remain high and desired profiles will be able to count on a salary increase. 

A desired profile should highlight competence in some of the skills the industry currently demands such as: 

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity in the financial sector protects companies from cyber fraud, hacking, and information theft. Individuals and companies perform most of their transactions online and the risk of a breach increases daily. Skills in cybersecurity can defend company data and confidential information from malicious attacks. 

AI

A survey by Wiley Education Services revealed that 40% of recruiters would prefer to invest in AI than upskill their workforce.

AI machine learning is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. They are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.

UX Design

UX stands for User Experience. When designing these experiences and developing digital interfaces, an engineer’s aim is to take human feelings, impressions and behaviors into account.

A UX engineer is usually acquired by employers in the BFSI industry to create financial services that ensure a user’s needs are in line with banking capabilities. These services are meant to be user-friendly and pleasant to use.

Cloud Computing

Harvard Business Review Analytic Services reveals that 74% of businesses believe cloud computing has given them competitive advantage. Cloud computing facilitates banks by storing data on remote servers which can be accessed through the internet. It usually maintains multiple copies of data to mitigate instances of security threats, data loss, or data breach.

Financial institutions benefit greatly from experts in cloud computing, as they provide improvements in cost-efficiency, reliability, flexibility and much more. 

Analytic Power

Analytic rigour is always in demand in the financial sector. The ability to look at raw data and develop reasoned calculations is hugely valuable, as it helps industry workers to support their conclusions with live evidence and numbers. 

“To stay competitive, data analytics led strategy based on customer insights can be a key differentiator to staying competitive – building bank market share and profitability and enhancing customer experience” says accomplished analytics leader, practitioner and author, Sandhya Kuruganti.

Commercial Awareness

Anticipation of financial trends and future business developments across the world is an essential trait to have in a career in BFSI industries.

Knowledge of the marketplace, who it interacts with (clients, customers, regulators, investors etc.), and the ability to identify competitors impacts the business and its overall performance.