Digital transformations and the need to leverage data ecosystems are driving the entire banking industry right now, and as financial institutions race to keep up with the accelerated pace of this change, data is scattered everywhere. To effectively manage a digital banking world, we all need more central access to data to help with general business strategy. This includes more than the data your institution creates, but effectively tapping into vast wells of data that we don’t produce ourselves. This access and analysis of disparate data sources is the essence of a data ecosystem.

Right now, harnessing the proliferation of data is like being on the Texas plains during the oil rush. It can be a bit chaotic out there, so where do we start drilling? When FIS decided to take on this challenge it became apparent that bringing those disparate data wells together into one central repository was critical. That vision was accelerated during the pandemic as this new data ecosystem called Ethos came to life.

Better decisions with a smarter data ecosystem

As financial institutions continue their migrations to digital first strategies there are a wide range of decisions to be made, all with ripple effects and consequences. The quality of data informing those decisions is essential as the landscape changes.

Which systems stay? Which ones go? Will some need to run in parallel? And for how long? These are some of the big decisions that banks and credit unions face. For Ethos, the questions focus on how the data in this big data ecosystem will help inform the decisions financial institutions have to make to effectively implement solid business strategies. Even more important is that this new Ethos data ecosystem provide continuous streams of insights that are the lifeblood of our new digital world. The data will essentially drive the success of those digital strategies as they play out in the real world.

Ethos helps you figure out which way the wind is blowing and which way it will blow next, addressing questions such as: What’s happening in my portfolio right now? What do my customers really want and need? How much risk is involved? How can I engage customers holistically, and move faster? Can I be more efficient and drive more productivity from my staff?

A trusted partner and custodian of financial data ecosystems

We know that as financial institutions add new systems and modernize existing systems, it means transactions will move faster, be increasingly more remote and involve fewer human touches. That also means risk increases and becomes more challenging. The Ethos data ecosystem is designed to help advance the speed and efficiency of your business by helping you make well-informed, data-driven decisions more quickly and with greater confidence.

In fact, the Ethos data ecosystem is built to help financial institutions with business strategy across the entire enterprise, by helping you move faster, with less risk, better outcomes, and greater productivity. It’s a space that solves many complex issues for you, such as governance, security, automation, and scalability. The solutions within the Ethos data ecosystem help solve a diverse range of challenges no matter what stage of digital transformation clients are in.

Three areas of golden opportunity for data ecosystems

Regardless of where your institution is in the digital transformation, there are critical areas of data ecosystem access that Ethos can help you with, including:

• Loan portfolio management – Tools that dramatically advance the way you verify income and risk for loan and credit decisions, ensure the right level of loan loss reserves, and automate the recovery process for bankruptcies.
• Payments strategy – Access your transaction data with visual KPI dashboards and account-level drill down capabilities so that you can easily see the actions you need to take.
• Engagement strategies – Whether you need an on-premise, custom, AI-driven engagement platform, or simply need to focus on turn-key marketing programs, Ethos will help you see the trends, connect with APIs to feed your existing systems, or provide “always on” services that help ensure holistic views across your portfolio, and drive prosperous relationships with customers.

The possibilities are real with a data ecosystem

Ethos allows FIS to provide a variety of services to clients, including niche data products that solve immediate needs, products that see across multiple data sets, and full professional services capabilities. It’s an important time to engage your FIS sales representative to understand what data solutions are available to you as you modernize and move further along in your digital journey. Grow with us as we continue to add more data ecosystem solutions and we’ll help you thrive in this new digital world.