Fintech is one of the fastest-growing areas for financial institutions. Financial technology, or fintech as we refer to it, is an innovative financial industry that applies technology to improve financial activities1. It is coined as the new applications, processes, products, or business models in the financial services industry, composed of one or more complementary financial services and provided as an end-to-end process through the internet.
Fintech emerged in the 21st century, where the term was initially applied to the technology employed at the “back-end systems” of established financial institutions2. Since then, there has been a shift to more consumer-oriented services, aka modern fintech. Fintech now includes different industries like retail banking, nonprofits and investment management – but fintech can apply to many other aspects in how people transact business, both personally and commercially.
Fintech innovations have affected traditional banking, trading financial advice, and products. Financial products and services that were once the realm of physical branches and salespeople have now moved toward online systems and mobile devices3. Consumers today are demanding digital options as new technologies continue to arise all the time. Users of these technologies are constantly providing information to their “tech”, which has the ability to then predict behavior analytics and create data-driven marketing, which over time takes the guesswork and habit out of financial decisions.
Apps can now learn the habits of the user to make automatic spending and saving decisions quicker…and maybe even better. They have the ability to assist customers with basic tasks and tend to include elements of both traditional advisors and algorithms, while others help users navigate financially complex tasks without interacting with a real human at all.
Fintech also includes the development and use of crypto-currencies such as bitcoin, digital payments, wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet4, prepaid cards, and electronic banking transfers. Software and technology companies have helped businesses accomplish these types of payment innovations quickly, securely, and with more flexibility.
So, if all these advances within fintech seem to be taking off swiftly and successfully, why are traditional financial sectors slower to adopt new technologies? Well, there are a few reasons. For one, the expense. The scope and cost of the changes needed to modernize, as well as the lack of in-house talent to build and operate such technologies, are preventing them from leading the innovation in their industry, leaving them to merely keep up.
There is also the inherent security risk. Even though these new technologies are being leveraged to innovate and add convenience, the security standards imposed by PCI SSC on any entity handling payment card data mean any serious fintech provider is dedicating a substantial amount of resources to ensuring compliance and that they don’t become the latest victim of a data breach.
Fortunately, Paysign has been at the forefront of the financial technology boom since 2001. As a leading provider of prepaid card programs, digital banking services, and integrated payment processing designed for businesses, consumers, and government institutions, we understand fintech. We were built on the foundation of a reliable payments platform and our end-to-end technologies securely enable digital finances and facilitate the distribution of funds for payroll, disbursements, rewards, expenses, and countless other exchanges of value.
To learn more about our story and how we fit into this industry, visit www.paysign.com.
1. Wikipedia: Financial technology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_technology
2-3. Investopedia: Financial Technology – Fintech: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fintech.asp
4. Fintech Weekly: Fintech Definition: https://www.fintechweekly.com/fintech-definition