6 Big FinTech Trends That Shape the Banking Industry in 2020
Dana Kachan — December 14, 2019 2020 is predicted to feature an even stronger collision of two worlds, the financial services, and technology. Fintech represents a powerful synergy of these industries and promise to bring out modern banking to a new level.
Being in a firm embrace with each other, financial services and technology innovations will provide institutions with new opportunities that expand far beyond traditional banking services.
Fintech can considerably improve customer experience, combining new data processing and storage strategies with advanced analytics and new capabilities of cybersecurity. Here we will overview six global trends that will disrupt the banking industry in the upcoming year.
AI Evolution
Illustration by Gleb Kuznetsov
In 2019, the buzz around artificial intelligence applications in fintech was huge. However, only a few use cases have been successively scaled and monetized. On the other hand, machine learning has better-deployed solutions that complement traditional analytics in fintech.
In the upcoming year, AI promises new sources of information about customers and data collection methods. It is proved by the fact that many credit underwriting attackers now use AI to analyze alternative sources of information, which include mobile phone numbers and even social network activity and behavior.
Today, many consumer lending platforms already use iterative ML methods to improve existing performance continuously. So, they do not need to make a considerable leap to incorporate AI too.
In the nearest future, the fintech industry game-changers are not characterized by new modeling methods, but a possibility to combine all three – enhanced analytics, alternative data sources, and their already existing business approaches.
The Voice Revolution
Illustation by Gleb Kuznetsov
The number of voice-controlled devices is fastly-growing. Buying and interacting with them more than before; people will do more voice searches. According to Comscore, half of all online searches will be voice-based by 2020.
The rapidly evolving technologies of AI and machine learning have also significantly influenced the way we interact with our smart devices. All of the factors mentioned above constitute the new requirements of the digital transformation era – adjust products and services to voice-enabled devices.
We are fastly-moving to the moment when brands from different industries should integrate voice technology into the customer experience to stay competitive on the market. A new generation of tech-savvy customers will demand mobile apps to understand what they are saying. The banking industry is not an exception. Customers will be able to easily open a deposit or transfer funds by voice using a mobile banking application. It is not a fad anymore. Many financial organizations will consider the incorporation of this technology as one of the best ways to build customer loyalty in digital banking.
Blockchain. A Complicated But Important Transformation
In 2019, Blockchain was being incorporated into processes of different industries much slower than expected. We believe that 2020 will be featured by a faster accepting of this technology and uncovering its potential for banks.
Even though Blockchain banking solutions still need testing, they can make relationships between financial institutions and their customers based on trust and transparency. This technology can reduce transaction times and significantly improve cash flow.
The initial attempts to take the maximum benefits from the Blockchain in the banking industry will turn around the improvement of fund transferring operations, KYC/ID fraud prevention, and risk scoring.
Although to reveal its most prominent benefits and power, this technology needs full trust between organizations and readiness to share data. Many financial institutions are not ready to take this challenge and make significant transformations in their cultures what stops them from incorporating Blockchain in their services.
Expansion of 5G Wireless
Animation by Seth Eckert
Due to the expansion of connected devices, the demand for high-quality Internet connection has become particularly sharp. The 5th generation of mobile connectivity is the answer to the market requirements.
Like all other industries, banking should be ready to provide a stable Internet connection everywhere. It is essential for the successful incorporation of new technologies into financial services. Organizations that will not care about it may lose out during a digital transition process.
Providing seamless and stable connections between devices, 5G also means better conditions for the growth of the Internet of Things. People use connected devices more than ever, so during the digitization of financial services, we should take into account that customers will expect us to deliver banking solutions that can be available on various IoT devices.
5G speeds uploading and data processing what can significantly improve both customer experience and bank infrastructure. For instance, voice assistants now can deliver more contextual and precise recommendations in real-time. At the same time, it ensures a smooth flow of data security communications with improved biometrics. It has also become particularly important for the financial industry during recent years.
The Fast Growth and Scaling of Chinese Fintech Ecosystems
Photo by Jackie Chine
Chinese fintech ecosystems are much different from the Western ones. In countries outside of China, the most successful fintech companies are usually focused on providing one or a few specific solutions like P2P payments, lending, or online deposits. They grow their expertise related to this particular field and expand the business geographically. For instance, PayPal concentrates solely on online payments, while Wealthfront provides wealth management only.
On the contrary, Chinese fintech disruptors act following a different algorithm. Usually, these are tech giants that build fintech ecosystems based on the existing highly-engaging consumer platforms. An excellent example is Ant Financial. This system is built on the back of Alibaba’s e-commerce platform. Ant Financial provides a range of business-to-consumer solutions, such as Alipay for online payments, Yu’e bao for investments from the Alipay wallet, MYbank for mobile banking, and others. This approach has appeared to be very effective and will significantly influence the world’s fintech trends in general.
Cyberthreats and Cybersecurity
Today, we face cyber crimes and threats even more often than before. The modern society is aware of the importance of cybersecurity. Although many companies pay particular attention to data protection, they are still vulnerable to issues related to cybersecurity.
When it comes to ensuring cybersecurity, organizations meet many challenges, such as customer data breaches, lack of professional cybersecurity staff, security automation, and integration.
Since the financial industry goes digital today and often needs even stronger data protection than others, it will be much influenced by cybersecurity innovations. Enhanced online security will be one of the most crucial fintech trends in 2020.
Takeaways
Fintech has considerably evolved during recent years and continues to develop fast. The six trends mentioned above outline the most significant movements and changes that are predicted to occur soon and shape the future of the financial services in the upcoming year.
Hopefully, this article will help you see a complete picture of all the influences on the modern financial industry and a process of its digital transformation.
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