The Fintech industry is innovating and gaining phenomenal traction at an impressive rate. While many industries and businesses took a hard hit from the global pandemic, the fintech industry is one of the few that not only thrived but saw a huge leap in convenient banking methods and new inventive technologies like contactless payment.
With the massive surge in fintech app usage across the globe, Fintech Solutions are now perceived as the new normal and this trend is only looking up. Here, we discussed rising fintech trends and areas to expect more growth in 2021.
Mobile banking
Mobile banking has been on a steady growth, and the 2020 pandemic that ravaged the globe with restrictions in movement only contributed in making people rely more on their smartphone for financial transactions and processing payments. A survey by Business Insider Intelligence revealed that 97% of millennials currently use mobile banking.
Even before that, a research study by CACI estimated that mobile transactions were set to increase by 121% between 2017 and 2022 and within the same period customer visits to retail bank branches will drop by about 36%. This doesn’t come as a surprise because the majority of people (mostly millennials and Gen Z, but also the older generation) are leaning towards convenient and simple, and mobile banking provides quick and easy access to online retail banking and finance management.
In the same vein, digital-only banks and fintech startups are also expected to see huge growth this year. Besides convenient, these institutions are very flexible with their innovative banking offerings that come at much cheaper rates and fulfills the needs of their young internet-savvy customers.
Automated Support Agents
Most often than not, businesses innovate to match and satisfy the growing needs of their customers. And with the younger generation wanting more techie stuff such as AI-powered voice assistants and chat-like platforms, the implementation of these automated support agents to provide quick answers and assistance on every day banking problems is also set to become one of the top fintech trends in 2021. AI-powered voice assistants acting as automated support agents will facilitate the processes of providing basic support to customers and helping them better navigate through finance-related tasks.
Blockchain technology
With its focus on decentralized finance, blockchain is bringing tremendous changes in the global fintech industry. It facilitates safe and secure transactions including cross-border payments, and every piece of data that is logged in is completely secure. Besides end-to-end data protection and minimized risk, more global banks and fintech platforms are adopting this technology to streamline their processes and reduce costs.
Also, many online peer-to-peer financing platforms have leveraged the blockchain technology for payments and transactions, and this largely cuts down the centralized procedure. According to a report published by Business Insider Intelligence, about 48% of banking executives believe that blockchain technology will have a significant impact on banking in 2021.
Digital biometrics technology
As mobile banking and financial technologies become commonplace, so will digital crimes. And more exposure to cybercrime only means more cybersecurity awareness and appropriate technology to effectively combat the problem. And in comes digital biometrics technology!
Biometrics security systems involving fingerprints scanning, voice recognition, iris scanning and facial recognition are effective methods of beefing up the security on digital and online banking platforms. Digital biometrics is also a safe and secure way of confirming customers’ identity since it’s not transferable like passwords, it’s a better tool for preventing theft and curbing digital financial crimes.
The biometrics industry has seen significant growth in the years past, and this trend will most likely continue in 2021, especially in fintech.
Big data analytics
Every year, financial institutions collect vast amounts of data which are processed using powerful analytics tools and techniques. Big data analytics provides phenomenal information and can provide insights into the banking needs and purchasing preference of individual customers, this is a powerful technique which is utilized for tailoring financial offerings and communications with their customers.
AI-powered systems are also effective at handling big data and subtly monitoring the behavior and preference of customers to better customize their retail banking options. Big data analytics goes a step further with predictive analytics, here it’s geared towards improving customer experiences as well as improving internal operational processes.
As a science, predictive analytics helps forecast problems before they happen, so appropriate measures can be put in place in anticipation. Fintech companies depend heavily on data and big data analytics using algorithms, AI and machine learning to predict future trends and market direction will only see more growth.