On this page:
- What are the challenges facing financial technology in 2021
- The main trends in the world of financial technology
- 1. Digital banks
- 2. Blockchain
- 3. Cloud
- 4. Robotic process automation (RPA)
- 5. Artificial intelligence
- 6. Customer information
- 7. Cybersecurity
- 8. Biometric security systems
- WealthTech, as the best way to make financial management easier
- Conclusion
Top Fintech Trends for 2022 Enabling Smart and Secure Finance
Today, there is practically no industry that has not felt the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Technology trends in financial services are now undergoing tremendous changes. Fintech application usage has grown by over 70%. People began to use contactless payment methods more often, and also refused to visit land-based banks.
What are the challenges facing financial technology in 2022
Even the most advanced systems always have problems that can be associated with different aspects of its activity. The coronavirus pandemic is not believed to have brought many problems to the financial sector in developed countries, but it has accelerated the digital transformation.
The latest fintech trends are aimed at solving such problems:
- Outdated technology. Many financial institutions still use techniques that were relevant at the end of the twentieth century. This is especially true for the startup industry. Because of this, the competitive environment suffers, the financial sector is not developing as fast as it could.
- Legislation. If it is not difficult to adopt laws within one country that will regulate financial organizations as a whole, and most developed countries have coped with this task long ago, then the situation with international transfers is more complicated. Trends in fintech are aimed at creating international payment systems that will be available to everyone and regulating the legal framework in this matter. The most sophisticated at the moment is the system introduced in the European Union in 2007, but it cannot be universal for all countries in the world.
- Security in the storage of the personal data of clients. In the civilized world, the leakage of such data as a card number or a client's password is simply unacceptable, but hacker attacks happen quite often. In addition, the clients themselves want all financial transactions to be carried out as transparently as possible, and how to combine security and transparency is a question that remains open.
- Trust. This point is maximally related to the previous one. If the banking system has the best possible protection system, then the client has nothing to worry about. If, as a result of a data leak, trust is lost, then it will be impossible to regain it.
- Termination of funding. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many companies have stopped funding financial technology, especially in the area of startups. As a result, the industry stopped developing at the rate it could have.
It is worth noting that all of the above problems, apart from the last point, were valid even before the coronavirus pandemic. It is assumed that their solution will take several more years.
The main trends in the world of financial technology
Many experts identify 8 main fintech industry trends that have the greatest impact on banking in general.
1. Digital banks
Digital banking is not a new invention, but today they are developing at a tremendous speed. With their help, you can solve all financial problems directly from your smartphone. This allows you to reduce your time and money (the size of the commission in the application is less than in the lend-based bank), you do not need to stand in a queue for a long time.
Since 2017, visits to lend-based banks have decreased by 36%, which confirms the fact that it is convenient to use banking applications. If earlier it was possible to make only a limited number of organizations in them, today here you can make not only transfers and payments, but also buy currency (including cryptocurrency), and make complex international transfers.
Another point is that research shows that today more than one billion people live in a community where there is no bank. For them, mobile banking can solve a huge number of financial problems.
2. Blockchain
Blockchain technologies appeared relatively recently, but now it is one of the most demanded and successful in the world. Some countries have used it to purchase the coronavirus vaccine, which speaks of really good results.
This technology has several advantages, but the most important of them are:
- Transparency;
- Instant payment;
- Reducing the risks of counterparties;
- Reducing the number of errors;
- Capital optimization.
Financial technology trends show that Blockchain is the ideal solution when it is necessary to conduct transparent international large transactions without intermediaries.
3. Cloud
Most clients value security and openness in the banking system. The public cloud allows you to make all financial transactions as transparent as possible, which makes it easier to work with customers and partners.
4. Robotic process automation (RPA)
RPA allows you to significantly simplify the work of the banking system as a whole. With its help, you can reduce the number of human errors, reduce the number of staff, and speed up customer service at times. Robotic process automation can decide on granting loans, look for new clients, as well as solve several other problems.
5. Artificial intelligence
Recently, many people feel an acute shortage of time, so they trust artificial intelligence to solve financial issues. Even a very good specialist often cannot do calculations as well as a computer does, so such finance industry trends are easy to explain.
In addition, artificial intelligence can analyze the behavioral factors of potential customers, which allows you to develop new promotions and offers, and adapt the company's policy to the needs of society.
Modern artificial intelligence technologies include:
- chatbots,
- trading algorithms,
- policy formation,
- prevention of fraud;
- monitoring compliance with regulatory requirements.
As soon as an error occurs in the system, the artificial intelligence points to it and gives hints on how to eliminate them or fix it on its own.
6. Customer information
For artificial intelligence to make the right decisions, it needs the most complete information about the client. Financial industry trends aim to make the client datum available to all financial systems.
Modern systems can analyze the conversation between customers and representatives of the banking system, which makes it possible to assess a person's intentions, predict his behavior and decision-making. This helps the bank to better understand the needs of customers and offer exactly what they need.
7. Cybersecurity
The better the protection system in banks becomes, the more some craftsmen can bypass it. The number of cyberattacks is now growing rapidly, which leads to the leakage of money and important information about customers.
Presumably, by the end of this year, the size of cybercrime may reach 6 trillion USD in the world. Most large financial institutions invest a lot of finance and effort to change this situation and to protect themselves and their clients as much as possible.
8. Biometric security systems
Fintech trends 2021 cannot be imagined without a biometric security system. Due to the rapid growth of cyber-attacks, banks are looking for an opportunity to protect customers and the use of biometric data becomes a logical solution.
Hacking an account protected by a password is much easier than one that is unlocked with a fingerprint. Many leading banks are trying to use face and voice recognition. It is much more difficult to fake them. It is worth noting that the latest models of smartphones have the function of fingerprint and face recognition, so this technology can be used in Internet banking as well.
Customers usually like this system very much, since they no longer need to remember long passwords, and to perform banking operations, it is enough to use their biometric data. This significantly speeds up the process of data verification.
It is assumed that this system will be introduced everywhere and in ATMs instead of the outdated PIN code. This will prevent illegal withdrawals in the event of theft or loss of your bank card.
WealthTech, as the best way to make financial management easier
WealthTech has a huge impact on finance technology trends, so it's worth talking about separately.
This technology was created to significantly simplify the work of financial analysts. It is assumed that in the future it will be able to completely replace this profession. The technology has a huge number of algorithms that can do even the most complex calculations. WealthTech can be used by both private and legal persons.
Another benefit from WealthTech is that the system provides access to rare stock market data. This allows you to make micro-investments more successfully and securely, earning more with minimal investment. Such a business will be a good solution for any entrepreneur who knows at least a little about financial technology.
Conclusion
Regardless of how events unfold in the future, there will always be various problems in the field of financial technology. It is now quite difficult to create a fintech industry report for 2021, but it is already clear that soon it will actively develop towards digital technologies and artificial intelligence. This makes it possible to reduce the costs of the industry and significantly improve the quality of customer service.
New financial technology is aimed at improving the security of customers and the system as a whole, preventing cyber attacks. The better protection a bank has, the more trust it has on the part of clients. That is why so much attention is paid to cybersecurity and the introduction of biometric security systems.
