Author: mlam1

There is no denying that FinTech has caused a new shift within the financial sector. What traditional financial firms now must do is to figure out how to deal with this new entrant and what direction traditional firms must go in order to continue serving within the financial sector. In the article, “Fintech should improve as well as disrupt” by Co-Founder of VentureFounders, James Codling, he explains the role of fintech and how traditional firms can help push fintech towards success.

The main topic that surrounds this article is the explanation on how fintech is not necessarily taking over the financial industry, but rather enhancing and improving the traditional financial institutions that are already here. With the combination of advanced technology, traditional institutions can improve its quality of work as well as effectively and efficiently serve clients. Fintech also benefits from this relationship by using the resources and reach of traditional institutions. Coming into the market, fintech has proved to become a disruptive technology, changing the platform of what financial institutions have to offer. Overall, the benefits that come with supporting one another outweigh the outcome of trying to dominate the market.

http://www.altfi.com/article/2791_fintech_should_improve_not_disrupt

Due to the rapid expansion of FinTech, new companies are being established and startups are expanding. This growth in the market has created multiple jobs that must be filled by skilled workers. In the article, “FinTech companies are in ‘a full-scale battle for talent,'” by Oscar William-Grut, he explains that certain positions for FinTech in the U.K. have been struggling to find talent. The hardest position that companies are trying to hire for are mechanical and engineering manager positions.

With the increase of FinTech as a leading market, the economy has continued to grow. However, with Brexit, the U.K’s job market is undesirable. This can create problems for FinTech companies that are headquartered in the United Kingdom. If these FinTech companies continue to have problems attracting potential employees, there can be a possibility of companies looking into moving overseas.

While there is a concern with recruiting talent, there can also be a worry about retaining talent. Since the industry is expanding at a fast pace, more opportunities will arise for those within the FinTech industry. Companies must stay competitive to keep employees happy and content with the job.

http://www.businessinsider.com/hardest-fintech-jobs-to-fill-in-uk-according-to-indeedcom-2017-3

Within the last few years, development in artificial intelligence has skyrocketed. What society has yet to grasp is the concept that artificial intelligence may one day replace daily jobs that people today possess. Financial technology has started to take root in society’s everyday activities. With the integration of artificial technology, people will need less and less human help and rely more on technology.

However, a question posed by the article includes whether society is willing to integrate this technology into everyday life. The fear of the unknown, of the advancement of technology, and of the replacement of jobs, keep majority of the population at bay. More and more people are starting to accept this change, from managing banking activities through online means. However, the day where banks no longer need human assistance is still far from reach.

Technology is constantly being improved. The replacement of jobs that are traditionally done by humans with technology can pose even greater social problems. While fintech can create new jobs, these jobs require highly trained employees. The gap between skilled and unskilled workers could potentially increase income disparity. In order for artificial intelligence and fintech to successfully be integrated into society, we must first find ways to sooth society’s uneasiness.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/madhvimavadiya/2017/02/27/artificial-intelligence-human-fintech/#1ee4e65046a1

With the fast changing industry of Fintech, new developments are predicted to alter the direction technology will have. According to “What’s Next for Fintech? 3 Predictions for 2017,” Fintech will take on a heavier role in the traditional banking industry.

The first prediction as mentioned in the article talks about the “changes in regulations.” With a new political leader, financial technology regulations have been an anticipated topic. Depending on how the new president alters regulations, financial technology may have more or less opportunity to expand and grow its influence on the market.

The second prediction is from “partnerships between fintech and traditional institutions.” This mainly focuses on how integrated fintech will be with the banking industry. If fintech chooses to partner with traditional bank, more regulations may be enacted and cause possible limitations to development.

The third prediction is “personalized advice from banks.” By developing a way for fintech to analyze each specific consumer, it can create the best fit action on optimizing investment. With this, fintech is able to integrate jobs from multiple sectors into one.

If all these predictions turn out to be true, fintech may be on a path to dominate the financial industry.

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/whats-next-for-fintech-3-predictions-for-2017-cm750508

There is no denying that financial technology is continuing to grow at a fast pace. This innovative sector of technology has rapidly moved across the world, creating new startups and applications that has disrupted how society runs. With great inventions comes large investments. With the U.S. being a pioneer of FinTech projects, there have been some speculation of whether the government has created a barrier to its growth.

According to Rebecca Campbell, sourced by Reuters, “investments declined by around 30 percent in the U.S. even if the nation did still manage to bring in over $4 billion.” With political uneasiness of a new president, the regulations of this new sector within technology have been ambiguous. While many investors seek to invest within this growing platform, without clear regulations, it can create confusion towards the future of companies.

Understandably, with a switch in government during the last election, the political system and regulations of technology and business have been unpredictable. The effect of new laws can create large shift in investment and growth for these companies. Without solid foundation of regulations, companies may find other countries to be more appealing and much easier to run business.

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/us-regulatory-environment-hinders-fintech-growth/

With the constant growing number of P2P apps, consumers are left with many options to pay and receive money. The popularity of these applications have been on a constant rise, especially since social media apps are integrating these options into its platform. In the article, “Why this Chinese New Year will be a digital money fest” by Matthew Wall, it talks about the rise in digital money and the difference it will make for the Lunar New Year holiday. With the availability to transfer money with ease, people are opting to send “digital red envelopes.” Increased security through touchid have soothe some of the public’s worry of security fraud.

However, what is more interesting is the impact financial technology will have on this traditional holiday. The Lunar New Year is celebrated by many cultures where married couples give red envelopes of money to signify good health and good luck. This act of presenting money is tradition, and with the rise of FinTech, the impact it will have on giving physical red envelopes is still in question. FinTech has already changed the way society pays money, but how it will change culture is still yet to be answered.

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-38746298

 

With FinTech becoming widespread, it may be hard to integrate all new technologies within a business. What this article, “Three Fintech Trends Worth Adopting” by Mitchell Caplan, does is suggest the top 3 essential financial technologies that will help financial advisors support their existing work and create a better relationship with their clients.

The three technologies suggested by the article include “holistic fintech evolution”, “planning and risk management integration”, and “customer experience priority.” Each of these categories connects to the integration of fintech into financial advisory. The first technology describes a way to see the big picture without using “roboadvisors.” What this article suggests is to use fintech as a way to assist the advisor rather than replacing the advisor with technology. The next fintech mainly connects to retrieving realtime information of “macro risks.” Lastly, the final fintech suggested is “customer experience priority” which advocates an easy interface to ensure transparency from the advisor to the customer.

These three technologies definitely have been on the rise since the development of fintech. It advocates a strong bond between a human advisor and client. With better prediction methods and transparency, it’s much easier to optimize investments which leads to a happy client.

http://www.financial-planning.com/opinion/three-fintech-trends-worth-adopting

Within recent years, FinTech has brought to the public a way to donate and fundraise for any cause, ranging from charities to startups. In London, five students have found a way to integrate a new system into an existing one – from integrating a “digital charity box” called “iRoundUp” into an established online payment system “ParentPay.”

By giving access to the public a way to give to good causes without barriers, such as distance, it gives more incentive for the masses to be inclined to help. It also reaches a larger audience, increasing the donating potential that these charities can reach. Since it was an existing platform, the users are already familiar with the interface. By adding in a new option, it gives the users an easy and hassle free way of donating to a good cause.

With the development of technology, this notion of online giving has been widespread across the online community. This gives a new push towards the future of money, where all transactions – from buying, selling, or donating – will be transferred online. By slowly integrating new technologies, such as “iRoundUp” to a larger platform, users can be exposed to the fast changes of technology.

http://techcitynews.com/press_release/no-electronic-loose-change-innovative-fintech-charity-payment-scheme-launched-today-across-6000-uk-schools/

 

According to “Money may make the world go round, but at what cost?” by Matthew Wall, it talks about a new method of transferring money abroad. One company mentioned in the article, TransferWise, created peer-to-peer transferring by “matching people transferring money in one direction with people transferring it in the other.” What TransferWise aims to do is to create an affordable and also convenient way of moving different currencies without the bank’s “monopoly on moving money around the world.” The company saw a business need, such as lack of availability when it came to methods of moving/sending money, and created a platform by incorporating FinTech.

Through this innovation, consumers are no longer limited to bank transfers, which tends to be expensive depending on the currencies being exchanged. As the article mentioned, “the future of money is digital, given the continued rapid rise of mobile phone adoption.” With mobile adaption, it makes the process hassle free and convenient for users. However, with such ease comes skepticism surrounding security. Since it is still a new innovation, consumers will have to be convinced of its reliability. Until then, the market of international money transfers may continue to stay in the next few years.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-31639262

Within recent years, fintech revolving around mobile devices have gradually become common. Since mobile devices are now widely used, the technology behind paying with a mobile device has been incorporated within each smart phone. In the article, “What is a Mobile Wallet, Origin, and History in Financial Technology?,” by Angela Scott-Briggs, it mentions four different types of mobile payment processing models: mobile-based billing, SMS-based transactions, mobile web payments, and near-field communications (NFC). According to Scott-Briggs, the first introduction of mobile fintech was from Coca-Cola in 1997, where consumers made a transaction through text message. Today, there are multiple ways to use mobile payments.

With seeing how apps today, such as Venmo, are becoming more commonly used, I can predict the rise of mobile wallets and the increasing use in the future. With more people becoming comfortable with using technology to pay, the technology behind mobile payments will be improved. However, the question comes with how mobile payments, in particular, the google wallet and apple pay, will change the way people make transactions. It might take a while for businesses to integrate this feature, but once it is widely available, then the public will be more inclined to use it.

 

Source: http://www.techbullion.com/mobile-wallet-origin-history-financial-technology/