According to almost two-thirds of CFOs (65%), digital transformation will result in fewer jobs, despite the fact that 32% of organisations aren’t currently undergoing this change, with 23% not planning to look at digital transformation for at least a year or more, as discovered in the FinTech Barometer 2019, the annual survey by fintech company Onguard.

For CFOs, there are significant reasons to start digital transformation, with improving the customer experience cited as the ultimate goal (45%), shortly followed by increasing efficiency in businesses processes (43%). Almost half of CFOs (46%) report that their own department has progressed furthest with digital transformation. However, with many organisations still yet to begin their digital transformation journey, there’s a missed opportunity to improve customer experience and reap the rewards.

Bert van der Zwan, CEO at Onguard, said: “It is notable that digital transformation isn’t going to be on the agenda for 23% of CFOs for a year or more. However, this does explain why many companies have not yet got to the point of improving the customer experience through digital transformation.”

Use of fintech for digital transformation
The financial world has been given a wake-up call by the arrival of a host of disruptive fintech companies that live and breathe digital transformation. The majority of CFOs (83%) report that they are already working with an innovative fintech or are developing financial software themselves. For CFOs, the principal reason for working with a fintech company is to make credit management easier (70%). Just 17% of CFOs are carrying on as they always have and are not working with a fintech. 

“In order to be successful outside, you have to start inside the organisation. When all the processes are sorted out internally, it’s time for an organisation to look outward and raise customers' experiences to a higher level,” added van der Zwan. “Thanks to digital transformation it is easy for organisations to collect all sorts of data about customers. This data is processed in real-time and provides insight, so that an organisation can respond even better to the customer's behaviour and can even predict whether a customer is going to pay their invoice. Ultimately, this will lead to a better customer experience."