Fintech Explained

Fintech (Financial Technology) means software and technology businesses use to offer computerized monetary services. As times change, more and more people are embracing Fintech for their service delivery, consequently leading to the industry’s growth. This recent trend has prompted numerous companies to adopt Fintech to battle the tedious conventional fiscal methods. The rapid increase in Fintech has been witnessed in multiple sectors and here are some of them.

Mobile Money Transfers and Payments

It is no surprise that money payments and transfers have now become mobile-oriented. Mobile payments have enabled robust financial development as they have become the norm for most transactions. People can now exchange funds and make transactions from the comfort of their homes, contrary to the past.

Many platforms have been launched to facilitate mobile payment, including M-PESA in Kenya and T-CASH in Indonesia. Some companies, such as Stripe and Wise, offer accurate market prices and facilitate mobile payment. Apple and Alibaba have also ventured on this end by establishing Apple Pay and Alipay to ease consumer payments.

Online Casinos and Gaming

Many gamblers have now taken to a new frontier, online casinos. For players to make transactions on these sites, they must have some form of an online payment system. In Poland, for instance, Blik dominates the market and is used for everything you can think of, leading to the establishment of the Polish Blik Casinos, which uses the Blik payment method to carry out transactions.

Fintech has also heavily influenced gaming. Thanks to the latest Fintech, gamers can now make online purchases, and many games have now integrated PayPal to enable players to make in-game purchases and get the latest updates. In recent years, the gaming industry has also introduced blockchain technology. Blockchain technology has allowed gamers to claim ownership over digital assets within the game, and they can then use assets to trade with other gamers on a virtual marketplace. As some icing on the cake, these virtual currencies now have cross-game compatibility enabling gamers to use them in various games.

Insurance

The insurance sector has been among the slowest to integrate financial technology. In recent years many insurance companies have opened up to this idea, as shown by the rising trend in Fintech applications in the industry. With the introduction of InsureTech companies, clients can now enjoy enriched connectivity through Artificial Intelligence solutions, personalised product offerings, and Digital Customer experience, among other perks.

Thanks to Fintech, underwriting has been enhanced through AI, which analyzes algorithms of customer records faster than any human could. The application process has also been hastened as the process now takes a few hours, courtesy of AI and mobile apps.

Banking

Fintech has been a gamechanger in the banking sector in numerous ways. Massive companies such as Barclays, US Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and HBSC are the few pioneers gradually warming up to state-of-the-art banking technology. Thanks to Smart Chip Technology, customers can now use ATM cards with EMV technology that utilises a one-time password enhancing security. The latest cutting-edge biometric tech has increased ATM security as customers can now use ATM cards without inserting passwords. Instead, they use fingerprint sensors and palm recognition.

The banking sector has also introduced chatbots to ease service delivery. Customers can now direct their queries to these bots which become more flexible as they continue to interact with humans making them highly efficient. These chatbots can also provide financial and investment advice to clients. The increased application of E-wallets is evidence of the rise of Fintech. International remittances and utility bills have been made easier through the employment of Paypal, Neteller and Google Pay in banking.

Wealth Management

Wealth management is a financial service that involves offering investment consultative services to affluent clients. Wealth managers have taken to a new trend, wealth tech. Through Artificial Intelligence, wealth tech has facilitated top-notch investment advice through a string of algorithms. Wealth management companies have been applying Robo-advisors to save on human labour costs.

Massive companies such as UBS Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management now house self-investment tools to offer self-help to clients. These tools include financial services software, portfolio management software and digital brokerages.

Fintech has proven to be a gamechanger in many industries as time passes, seeing as to how it has heavily impacted the modern world. It is truly the age of change, and as is always said, ‘change is inevitable.