Fintech Predictions for 2017

The Fintech industry has shown unending promise, with the year 2016 hailing it as the next big growth sector. Start-ups are mushrooming across the Fintech landscape, driving innovation and new initiative across the sub-domains of lending, credit, and payments. The year 2017 shows great promise for this niche sector.

The primary reason why Fintech became the darling of the business world, is because it delivered ease of operations and convenience to the customer. Consider the case of online payments—mobile wallets have made possible cashless transactions on a scale like never before, greatly eliminating the need for cumbersome cash transactions. Here are the envisioned top trends that will transform the way money matters are dealt with, thanks to the power of technology.

The death of credit and debit cards: According to an ABI Research study, contactless cards are expected to double in 2017. This translated to changed shopping habits, the shopper is now more concerned about having his or her phone nearby, than his physical wallet. Mobile wallet companies will be the way ahead for online transactions, spurred by the countless incentives that wallet companies are providing consumers to pay this way. This provides a cheap and easy alternative to credits cards with their overriding interest rates, and debit cards, with their exorbitant overdraft fees.

Security will be paramount: The dominance of Fintech has led to a new breed of law-breakers- the online hackers who steal financial information and perpetuate financial scams. Going ahead, one can expect steps to be taken to tighten this security and prevent such hacks. Biometric ID can be one of the phone-applications that become widespread, already a host of smartphone are availing finger-print based access features. This is not an add-on, but a must-have measure to secure the mobile security for making mobile transactions fool proof.

The age of “instant” will define success: As attention spans of customers get shorter and their expectations get bigger, more and more of them will demand instant services. In this age of instant gratification, high responsiveness becomes critical, especially when money is involved. Immediate solutions are luring the tech-savvy customers, and with so many alternatives out there, a lag in response time may make the consumer to switch to competing service providers.

Invoicing will see innovation: Managing a laundry list of invoice accounts and their payments can become a logistical nightmare, consuming much precious time and resources. The next big thing in Fintech is automation of the invoicing management process according to industry pundits. Fintech concepts will be applied to invoicing, a ubiquitous need across all organizations, across all sectors. Payments will become real-time and easier, thereby narrowing the gap between credit and recovery.

AI will drive Fintech innovation: The age of artificial intelligence is here, with AI capabilities touching upon multiple aspects of our lives. Financial management is no exception. From enhancing banking performance to more intuitive user interfaces to smarter customer service, AI is the recipe for revolutionizing Fintech.

In 2017, you can expect a more smarter, more intelligent Fintech, catering to the customized needs of the consumer and delivering a money management experience par excellence. Not only enterprises, but every person out there stands to benefit, as these innovative initiatives come within the reach of the common man.

Source: Rhucha Kulkarni Associate Features Editor – ReadITQuik