Fintech or financial technology has become big in an effort to keep up with the advances going on in every other industry. Now integrating with financial services, fintech has started to encroach into every sector of industry, including customer service. 

With this technology on the rise, new innovations and trends are starting to appear. Though we're only barely into 2020 right now, fintech's future seems more than possible to predict. The trends we're experiencing now are going to echo into the future for some time. Here are just a few noticeable trends happening right now:

1. Regulation

Regtech or regulatory technology uses data to create better processes in industries. Regtech's main realm is in fintech where companies that specialize in finance have the most to gain from regulation. Being delivered As-A-Service, regtech easily helps companies change their standards without slowing down on-going processes.

While regtech isn't new, its relationship with fintech is still in the early stages. Before regtech was perfected, moving information required too much security and wasn't worth risking. However, from 2008 to 2015, regtech performance increased by 492% which made the option a lot more enticing. Adding regulation to fintech creates more consistency, making the processes more efficient and less time-consuming while still accurately identifying data and protections.

2. New Focus on the Unbanked

There are 1.7 billion people that take no part in the financial system, according to the World Bank. They either have no accounts because they don't have enough money to keep in a bank, they simply don't need an account or the accounts themselves are too expensive. Fintech is working to change the costs of these accounts while also reaching out to those who otherwise wouldn't see a reason to have an account at all.

Uber, for example, discovered that over half of their employees send roughly 25% of their income to their native countries and pay high fees to do so. To help everyone involved, Uber Money, the fintech side of Uber, plans to begin offering services to help employees and others transfer, save and spend their money better. This is just one of the ways that fintech is growing with the times and adapting to new economic climates.

3. Big Data

Data is a conglomerate of information gathered from many different devices around the world. This information, about 2.5 exabytes a day and planned to reach 4.4 zettabytes in 2020, has started to be used in every aspect of a business. That said, the difference between normal data and Big Data is only in how it's used. 

Data used for real-time results and machine learning programs is what turns the concept into Big Data. In other words, Big Data is used on smart technology that often runs itself. In the realm of fintech, Big Data is used to detect fraud, analyze the possibility of risks and learn more about the customer base's needs. Now that fintech is starting to utilize Big Data, we're seeing advances happening much faster, which means new trends are going to start speeding up.

4. Better Cybersecurity

Data breaches are often the start of a company's downfall. The cost of repairing the damage is usually around $1.8 million with the biggest losses coming from the smallest companies. The reason smaller companies suffer more is that they don't have as much to invest in proper IT support and cybersecurity.

When it comes to cybersecurity, fintech has some pros and cons. The biggest problem with fintech and cybersecurity is that it's all technology, meaning it's more possible to being attacked by a malicious entity. At the same time, fintech's advances as of late have gotten far ahead of the curve. Since everything is run by technology anyway, adapting fintech into a companies infrastructure allows for better security from the start.

Fintech's Future

While fintech is a newer player on the field than most, it's already breaking barriers and becoming an extremely integral part of any business. From here, fintech can only get better. What we've seen so far in 2020 and given the climbing trends of years past, we can expect much more from fintech over the coming months, including trends that we haven't even thought of yet.

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About the Author

 

Kayla Matthews is a tech-loving blogger who writes and edits ProductivityBytes.com. Follow her on Twitter @productibytes to read all of her latest posts!