On your way to work today, you may have bought something online on your phone, transferred money via PayPal (Venmo in the U.S), tapped your phone when buying a coffee and maybe even used a contactless credit or debit card to get on a bus or train.
These all seem like relatively simple tasks, but ones that on the back end require a lot of software development to get to the point where you can do something as simple as buying a pint in the bar and tapping to pay for it.
From the little daily money tasks that have made getting your lunch easier to developments in how we handle money on a large scale, fintech continues to develop at an alarming (in a positive sense) speed. And with so many changes in the financial world, trends will emerge in the next few months, which will become commonplace for everyone in and outside the financial world.
Taking the lead from some of the experts in the niche, here are some Fintech trends to keep an eye on as we get closer to 2020.
4 Top Fintech Trends
Cybersecurity In Upheaval
Banks have had a hard time trying to keep up with changes in technology and keeping systems ahead of the curve. I’m not talking about cryptocurrencies which are a world onto themselves, but simply the systems banks use.
Something that isn’t widely known by the public is the reliance banks have from third-party vendors to provide software services. And when banks are putting security in the hands of others, there needs to be some degree of checks and balances. As Bitsight reported last year, “banks’ mobile applications have a multitude of issues that introduce cybersecurity risk.”
Issues like personal data being stored insecurely, incomplete code, and workarounds for logging in to other accounts, all are in the hands of the software provider and not the bank. It’s the kind of thing that can lead you to believe your bank isn’t working in your interests, but thankfully there also a new area of compliance to cover.
More Complicated Regulation and Legal Navigation
GDPR. Online-only banks. Currency changes. IP Protection. As Fintech expands, so too does the need for legal help for companies. Goodwin Law is a fintech law firm that specializes in helping emerging companies to navigate the murky legal waters. As they put it, “With new regulatory considerations developing…it is crucial for a successful FinTech company to have expert legal counsel.”
With Fintech involving so many start-ups, there is a massive legal requirement out there to help those clued in with developing new financial products to stay legally sound. There’s also the need to be compliant when launching. While a Fintech company can be all good to go in the USA, there may be EU laws that need to be looked at so a company can legally operate in a new region. Again, it all boils down to having legal help rather than going gung-ho.
Regulation Automation Creating Less Legal Navigation
If Fintech was one portmanteau that was confusing, you wait to hear Regtech get bandied about more in 2020. As BBPV pointed out in a recent article, we’re going to be getting Regtech solutions popping up left, right and center.
Regtech is helping companies tackle the problem of legal and regulation by employing the use of software to distill compliance task processes. By having software carry out the likes of regulatory reports faster than a person can, companies can use software to save time jumping through hoops to reduce legal costs and time.
Bye-Bye Brick and Mortar - Financial Transactions Online
You can book an Airbnb when on holiday rather than an expensive hotel. You can tap on your phone for an Uber quicker than it takes to phone a taxi. And as PWC puts it, next year could see the shift from people using banks for capital and instead “using information technology to find efficient matches between providers.”
Banks are saying bye to bricks and mortar in the UK, with the BBC reporting that around 60 banks a week close down. Many are keeping “flagship” branches in town centers, essentially putting banks back where they were decades ago, so it’s obvious that people will take the convenience of looking after finances online and through new methods.
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