How many times have you seen something like, “DBT CRD 0998 06/24/18 12397732-XXX” on your bank statement and thought to yourself, “I have no idea what this means?” While it is great that people are able to view records of their transactions, these records are not useful because people have to spend hours trying to decipher what the transaction descriptions are actually referring to. Bank statements are crowded with all sorts of numbers, letters and symbols, and the vital information is either embedded deep into these complex figures, or is nowhere to be found.
With the new Envestnet | Yodlee Transaction Data Enrichment (TDE) tool, financial institutions can now help their consumers better understand their bank statements by presenting them in a simple, clear and more informative way. Having enriched transaction data and transaction analytics is a big step in the way of financial wellness. It helps the consumer and their financial advisor better understand the consumer’s spending patterns and in turn, lifestyle. This gives both the financial advisor and the consumer a chance to identify areas in which the consumer can save more money for retirement and budget for long-term goals that they may have. Furthermore, it adds a layer of security to transactions because TDE can help detect fraud. The software can instantaneously pick up on fraudulent transactions by detecting any unusual activity on the consumer’s account. This not only helps consumers, but also saves financial institutions time and resources that would have gone into tracking the fraudulent transaction long after it had gone through. The advantages of this software go far beyond just financial institutions and financial wellness.
TDE is also useful in the healthcare and transport sectors. According to a study by McKinsey, big data could save $300 billion a year in health care costs in the U.S. by avoiding waste from poorly coordinated care, fraud and abuse and administrative and clinical inefficiency. Additionally, healthcare providers can use TDE to gain a better view of their patients. When a patient calls into a contact center to raise a concern, some organizations are able to update that interaction in real time, so that relevant parties across all the organizations can get a 360-degree view of the patient and better respond to their needs. Lastly, in the transportation industry, TDE can help to more accurately model and optimize demand, capacity, schedules, pricing, customer sentiment, revenue, cost and more. In this way, TDE has extensive benefits that are only just being discovered. As the technology evolves, it will likely be used extensively in the future in many more industries to make predictions and increase efficiency.