The FinTech Landscape and its Future

Businesses that leverage new technology with the aim of creating new and improved financial services for consumers, as well as businesses involved in the trade of financial services, are called FinTech companies. They encompass all types of services such as personal financial management, insurance, payment, asset management, and similar services.

In today’s digital age, many people seek easy access, speed, efficiency, and security. People are looking for services which are available on mobile technology platforms and applications which are directly connected to managing their financial lives such as tracking their budget and expenditure, optimizing investment strategies or something as simple as applying for a loan.

Asian Fintech companies are slowly cracking the traditional financial institutions and are providing the services that exclusively resided in these institutes with some much needed innovation that transitioned from desktops and paperwork to more advanced mobile technologies and multi-platform accessing apps. These include the areas of lending, personal finance, retail and institutional investments, equity financing, and consumer banking. Many Asian fintech start-ups are gaining prominence due to the incredible services that are being provided by them.

Fintech innovation has a future in the following areas-

• Cryptocurrency and digital cash- New payment methods are evolving continuously such as E-wallets, transaction and payment apps, scanning applications, and baking apps. This has led to a breakthrough in financial payments that has enraptured the common man’s mind and attracted him towards e-payment platforms.
• Blockchain technology that has no centralized ledger, but a network of computers that contain ledgers known as Distribute Ledger Technology. Some of the hottest Asian Fintech companies have markets competing with Bitcoin markets.
• The development of Smart contracts, which automatically execute predefined contracts between buyers and sellers. They use blockchain technology as well.
• Open banking, which is a concept that believes that some applications should have access to bank data that can be used to create a network of financial institutions and third-party providers that can be used for money management and financial advice.
• The development of applications to improve the insurance industry. The use of mobile platforms to build applications that can provide timely insurance to consumers along with easy access and other benefits. Insurance apps reduce the paperwork required and increase client-company relationships without encroaching upon the customer’s security.
• Financial security apps, which help financial service providers, meet the industry compliance rules that help in fighting fraud. Protocols such as Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering protocols can be used to stop security breaches and help financial service providers maintain integrity.
• Advice on financial investments can be automated, so that all customers can seek appropriate financial advice at cheaper costs through the use of Robo-advisors. These advisors use mathematical algorithms to identify trends in the behaviour of the customer’s finances and generate results accordingly.
• Low-income individuals are not served appropriately by traditional financial institutions and banks. FinTech can be utilized to create apps to serve such consumers which have been under-served by the mainstream financial institutes.
• Decentralized stored data can led to cybercrime. Fintech can be used to battle cybercrime by creating cybersecurity apps.