FinTech Revolution
Winner of 2023 Compareni.com Fintech Scholarship. https://www.irishnews.com/business/2023/06/13/news/low_awareness_of_fintech_opportunities_forces_many_students_overseas_says_survey-3342520/
FinTech is an acronym that stands for financial technology. It comprises techniques that are used to complement, enhance, upgrade, or replace existing financial services. It is used to describe mobile and desktop programs, methodologies, and systems. FinTech platforms make everyday operations like depositing cheques, moving cash between banks, transferring money, and requesting financial help easier (1).
The FinTech industry is growing and paving the way for globalization by offering every country, irrespective of their economic growth, a way to take part in the digital economy and benefit from it. Digital financial technology has the potential to lower transaction costs by removing geographical barriers, improving process speed, security, and transparency, and allowing better customized financial products that effectively deal with customers, specifically the poor or the lower middle class. Many people in low-income countries struggle to access banks & financial services which leads to financial & business loss but FinTech organizations can easily cater to such consumer base & provide them easy access to financial products (2). E-Commerce is growing rapidly because of FinTech which has made payments quicker & easier to process while also providing an efficient way of tracking down expenses & business costs & also reducing the chances of fraudulent activities or scams.
Furthermore, Artificial intelligence is already improving business patterns, but in the finance sector, it can detect, evaluate, and change variations in information patterns independently. Although the quality of the data may not be ideal. However, A. I technology may provide important insights into currency fluctuations & investment projections. It can evaluate complex data, which is critical in the financial services sector, and can be used in fintech in a wide range of capacities, including forecasting product competency and designing marketing strategies based on consumer behavior & trends (3). Not only Artificial Intelligence but Blockchain utilization in the FinTech sector is also going to develop financial models that will lower the cost, will be more secure, and will be available to every individual. It will enable conventional banking firms to reduce a major amount of their expenses, resulting in more cost-effective services aimed at the public rather than just wealthy individuals (4).
Moreover, Climate change is a major concern in 2023 & Climate financial services may assist in controlling threats, improving efficiency, and assisting decision-making in combating climate change (5). Several climate FinTech business models are emerging because of favorable policies and government activities. By uniting banks, insurers, nonbanks, start-ups, major tech businesses, technology suppliers, regulators, and customers, digital technologies and financial product innovations can help tackle climate financing difficulties (5).
FinTech is also generating employment and only in Northern Ireland, almost 40,000 people work in the Financial and Related Professional Services sector. One in every four people work in FinTech, which includes trading and payment technologies, regtech, insure tech, and cybersecurity, as well as pioneering activity in disruptive technologies like AI and data analytics (6). This reflects that Northern Ireland has the potential to become a digital & FinTech hub in Europe in the coming years due to the lower cost of operating business in Northern Ireland as compared to other parts of the U.K.
The world is now entering in an era of Artificial intelligence, deep learning, and machine learning & these technologies will continue to innovate the FinTech sector in the coming years. These technologies will support a more sustainable, eco-friendly, and efficient financial process, allowing people easy access to financial services and resulting in global financial inclusion.
References
1)https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/what-is-fintech/
2)https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099450005162250110/p17300600228b70070914b0b5edf26e2f9f
3)https://moqod.com/blog/ai-fintech/
4)https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/01/31/how-fintech-and-blockchain-are-evolving-and-disrupting-financial-institutions/?sh=4e3ffa9d483a
5)https://blogs.adb.org/blog/rise-climate-fintech
6)https://www.investni.com/sites/default/files/2021-02/NI-fintech-document.pdf