What is Fintech?

Connor James Ibbetson, Journalist

You’ve heard the term tossed around recently in the media, but what is FinTech?

FinTech is in your phone, on your laptop, in your wallet. FinTech is the budding industry aiming to take the banking world head on to change the game for both consumer and corporate.

FinTech simply means Financial Technology, and is being pioneered by small firms around the world, who are able to adapt, innovate, and move much more quickly to the changing and evolving market than the behemoths of old.

The surge in new companies, start ups, and innovative ideas have all been spearheaded by FinTech, because these companies are responsible for the development of crowdfunding. No longer do potential new companies need to beg and borrow from big banks, instead they can directly seek investors online.

But it is not just for startups and online companies, with the rise of FinTech came probably the most popular financial service in the world, PayPal.

Source: Gizmodo

Kings of UX

Founded way back in 1998, PayPal doesn’t require business owners to make a minimum revenue to use, and this means even the smallest and most remote business can process electronic payments via credit and debit cards.

King of UX, Paypal showed the world how good user experience can take the stress out of finance and beat the banks. Secure payments and invoicing are frictionless for both consumers and businesses – something that is lacking in traditional banking.

New FinTech brands such as Monzo and Tide are taking up the UX baton now – offering clients an unrivalled user experience.

Of course, this rapid progress is a double edged sword to business owners. Posing the danger that now, we as customers expect a certain level of service. I actually find it quite rare to carry any cash on my person now, and this means if a business cannot provide at least a chip and pin service, I’ll have to go elsewhere.

This level of expectation and convenience is what is driving technology such as contactless card payments, mobile phone banking and services like Google Pay and Apple Pay that we now take for granted.

The industry is moving fast, with over 12 billion dollars invested in FinTech companies in 2016 alone. Financial Technology means business owners can offer more services, at cheaper cost to them and their customer, but only if they can stay at the front of the pack.