Dario Calogero, CEO Mobile technology has revolutionized the banking and financial services industry in ways that were unthinkable just a decade ago. This disruption in the retail banking and payments has set the stage for an unprecedented boost in financial activity. In the midst of these rapid transformations, while organizations are propelled to keep up, there is an opportunity for innovation to preside. As such, companies like Kaleyra were born.
In an ambitious bid to bridge the communication gap between businesses and their customers, Kaleyra has developed a platform with programmable APIs that supports the banking and financial services industry in handling mobile communication with consumers seamlessly. The easy-to-integrate platform is not only in line with the technical and technological evolution of the channels that deliver interactive banking services but also has the ability to anticipate future changes. “Technology is radically changing the relationship between financial institutions and their customers. At Kaleyra, we are the driver of this change and empower our clients to communicate, reach, manage and engage with their customers instantly, effectively and securely,” says Dario Calogero, CEO of Kaleyra.
“We facilitate a seamless technology that does not modify the bank’s legacy infrastructure significantly while providing service through APIs,” he adds. Specifically designed for enterprises, retail and banking customers, Kaleyra’s Messaging platform automates messaging communication and is packed with rich capabilities like quick set-up, enterprise-grade security, flexibility, scalability, reliability, strong network, 24/7 dedicated support, messaging API, and more. As the PSD2 (Revised Payment Service Directive) brings in changes in the regulatory framework in Europe, traditional banking systems are finding it hard to match up to the newcomers, which in turn affects the profitability of their business models. “When we intercede between banks and fintech companies and enable an API-based interaction, we can ensure more space for the traditional retail banking and the upcoming fintech banking to work together,” explains Calogero.
We provide a seamless technology that does not modify the bank’s legacy significantly while providing service through APIs
A state-of-the-art fintech offering in cloud platform services is on the horizon for Kaleyra. The company, which has a million subscribers in the banking services, handles up to several client interactions per month per subscriber. Kaleyra proffers credit and debit notifications, and provides insights into clients’ financial situations.
Calogero stresses the importance of the communication platform as a service (CPaaS) model, which has developed over the last decade. Kaleyra intends to combine its technology offering with its robust service arm to transform its service into a CPaaS model. Being in a sector that demands continuous communication, the company also proffers push notifications and premium SMS. Kaleyra offers instant messaging and works with a variety of messengers to provide a seamless customer experience.
The importance laid by Kaleyra on security is another factor that draws customers to it. The company leverages mobility to encourage security measures like OTP and two-factor authentication. The company is carrying out R&D on natural language processing using AI and big data analytics. “We have an excellent application for person-to-voice communication with natural language recognition,” says Calogero. This application has found traction in the Asia-Pacific region and is expected to smoothen the banking process by making it natural and convenient for users.
In the next 18 months, the company aims to expand across the globe while maintaining its core positioning in the banking and finance industry. The company operates globally from offices in Milano, Italy; Bangalore, India; Dubai, UAE; Lugano CH; Singapore; Washington and New York, U.S., and plans to grow further. “Our geographical expansion plan is two-fold—we plan to expand further into the Asia-Pacific in the East and the U.S. in the West,” states Calogero. “We are also well established in the Middle East, and we aim to pursue further opportunities in that region,” he concludes.
The decision to expand the WebRTC audio and video solution to the U.S. market stems from rising expectations from US consumers to connect with real people from their preferred devices in real-time. Currently, the American market makes up over 40 percent of the WebRTC global market share,1 and one in three Americans uses live video chat to communicate with businesses and organizations.2 The United States is also a key market in driving the growth of telehealth, which allows for remote care, monitoring, and consultations via video. In fact, 38 percent of Americans used telehealth in the past year, and that number is only expected to grow.3 As a result, Kaleyra is completing its HIPAA compliance for WebRTC, which will position the company to provide a reliable and intuitive solution for healthcare professionals.
Kaleyra Video is a natively integrated audio and video solution allowing users to join calls from their web browser or app without leaving their current digital environment or having to install any additional software plug-ins. What differentiates Kaleyra Video from other well-known Unified Communications & Collaboration video conferencing tools on the market is the white-label solution that allows companies to customize the user interface with their branding toolkit. Additionally, Kaleyra Video offers collaborative tools to seamlessly conduct meetings, such as an interactive whiteboard, file upload and sharing, screen share, chats, and encrypted call recordings.
Mauro Carobene, Chief Business Officer of Kaleyra, said, "Taking Kaleyra Video to the U.S. market was a no-brainer for us. It is a culture that is already highly advanced and has certain expectations regarding the availability and reliability of its communication channels. Kaleyra is committed to further growth in the U.S. through a stronger omnichannel and CPaaS offering, and Kaleyra Video is helping us take that next step".
Zachary Konopka, Head of U.S. Partnerships and Development, based in New York City, added, "As someone sitting in a client-facing position, real-time communication is where the need and demand lies. With the launch of Kaleyra Video, we stand poised to help our American-based clients implement WebRTC audio and video calling into their existing touchpoints and create a seamless and personalized experience for their customers."
Kaleyra Video is part of Kaleyra's integrated, API-based platform, which offers omnichannel communication services such as SMS, MMS, RCS, and push notifications. For more information, please visit Kaleyra's website at www.kaleyra.com.