Fintech, once a slow-growing sector, is now considered one of the fastest-growing sector in Silicon Valley and today’s tech industry. Financial technology is being labelled and defined as a company or start-up that uses technology and solves financial problems, which embodies many different aspects of finance and money.
Historically, there had been low correlation between finance and technology but in recent years, there has been more intertwining between finance and technology, especially with the growth of mobile application and online platforms. A larger and more mature segment of fintech is digital payments which is a $450 billion industry. Other fintech segments includes but not limited to personal finance and investment management, lending, data analysis, money transfer and currency, and crowdfunding. In 2015 alone, more than $22.3 billion were invested in fintech which was more than the prior 5 years combined. Analysts are predicting the fintech sector to be lucrative and rising.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/07/business/dealbook/The-Fintech-Power-Grab.html?_r=0
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/4-reasons-the-fintech-potential-remains-untapped-for-2017-cm729084