Metaverse & Financial Services: A New Frontier
Despite the widespread consumer adoption of an all-encompassing virtual world still being some distance away, The Metaverse provides exciting potential for financial services firms to explore and experiment, says Wealth Wizards co-founder Tony Vail.
The Wealth Wizards Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, shared his insights as a panellist at the virtual event “Managing Money int he Metaverse” sponsored by SS&C. Tony emphasised the possibilities presented by virtual worlds, beyond the vision of a Metaverse where people socialise, work, own property and trade virtual goods using cryptocurrencies.
Educating the Consumer in a Virtual Age
“One promising aspect is the potential to educate and inform consumers. For example, they could be virtually guided through various savings and investment scenarios to help them better understand possible outcomes, this is very exciting for us as a fintech. Different use cases will be developed in the future, including opportunities to engage consumers with their investment holding like never before.
Engaging with the Gaming Community & Building Trust
“I am particularly excited about the user experience and the potential use cases. The vibrant gaming community are already active in virtual world experiences. The key thing for financial services businesses to consider is how to engage with the users in a way that brings to life your brand and its values. If like us, you’re in the business of helping people, then giving value and help to people via the Metaverse could be a way to start building trust and consideration.”
Internal Collaborations & the Metaverse
Vail sees more readily achievable opportunities in The Metaverse being used by companies internally.
“There’s an interesting use case to use the Metaverse internally, such as for data visualisation and internal collaboration. Working remotely has been a challenge for collaboration, and finding new ways for remote teams to work together offers a really interesting experiment.
‘Where the potential of the Metaverse comes to life for us, is as an income, expenditure, and outcomes visualisation tool. A numerical dashboard is fine, but some people would want to access it differently or more interactively. Accessing data via the Metaverse could greatly enhance user experience”.
Tackling Legal Hurdles & Future Vision
Currently, numerous legal hurdles must be addressed, but Vail urges financial services to start learning and experimenting with the Metaverse now.
“Look at where and how people are using it. What are their business cases. How can you use it to bring your processes or your brand to life? As an industry, until recently, we have not been good at helping people understand and engage with what they own. By embracing the Metaverse, the financial industry can facilitate their customers in building a more tangible relationship with their pensions, savings and investments, thereby aligning with the growing focus on financial well-being in the UK.
A Call to Action for the Industry
“The potential is in front of us; as an industry, we need to look at how we start to use it – for me, that’s in experimenting, building brand and trust, and using it for meaningful engagement.”
