Emerging FinTech Trends of 2020

Technology has slowly been taking over the finance industry ever since the stock market went electronic decades ago. People far and wide are investing in fintech for its time- and cost-saving benefits and ability to improve financial institution’s service offerings. According to Forbes, fintech investments are expected to reach $30 billion sometime this year.

Fintech can help institutions automate and improve their financial service offerings in preparation for the digital days ahead. Getting ahead of the game and standing out in the competitive economic landscape is made possible by keeping up with the latest trends in fintech, which impact every aspect of the world of finance.

Personalization Through Artificial Intelligence

Marketers have always encouraged the financial industry to use personalization to establish and maintain a loyal customer base. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) within the fintech industry, it’s easier and more effective than ever to do so with fintech marketing. AI is helping financiers collect data and draw insights from it to personalize the customer experience like never before.

Thanks to this data, we have a much better idea of customer behavior online and can create a custom marketing experience, providing information that is useful and relevant to the individual at a time when it will be most helpful to them. According to projections by Autonomous Research, AI will also help the financial industry cut their operational costs by 22% over the next decade. This technology could also mean faster and more convenient transactions and reduced cybercrime.

RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and Chatbots

Gartner Inc. predicts that, at some point in 2020, you’re more likely to have more conversations with chatbots than with your spouse and that this technology will cover 85% of customer service needs online this year. Chatbots are one of the major trends in fintech right now because of the affordable improvements they yield in terms of productivity and service speed. Fortune reports that, on average, chatbots spend four minutes less per interaction than humans. This technology makes financial institutions and companies less reliant on the limited capacity of employees, offering instant problem resolution, shortened response times, increased bandwidth, and 24/7 help for customers.

RPA is another emerging fintech trend that is more sophisticated than chatbots. RPA doesn’t just mimic human conversation; it can also help financial institutions meet government requirements and assist with compliance, security, risk assessment, data analysis, onboarding, verification, and other time-consuming administrative processes. This frees up the time of staff members for the customer service aspects of their jobs.

Mobile Payment

Did you know that mobile wallets are expected to replace physical wallets very soon? Most people don’t want to carry around cash or cards anymore — they want the convenience, freedom, and security of electronic payment. Apps such as Zelle, Venmo, Apple Pay, Square Cash, and more are satisfying this consumer demand for quick and simple transactions without the hassle of cash.

In 2019 alone, there were 2.1 billion people using bank cards on their smartphones for convenience and security, and this trend is only expected to grow. In an international survey from 2018, ING Group discovered that nearly one in four consumers electronically transferred money somewhere else than their financial institution account within the year.

Upcoming technology will support the growing number of transactions that we will see in the coming years and make consumers feel safe abandoning physical credit and debit cards. As institutions adopt digital payment options with programs based on user purchase history, they will see themselves finding and retaining more of their customers.

Blockchain

Blockchain refers to an intricate data system housing public transaction records. It is comparable to Wikipedia, in that it runs on a distributed network, and there is no sole entity responsible for posting entries on its centralized server. The blockchain ledger records, tracks, and verifies transactions and contracts between parties and reduces the necessary processing time for these steps from days to mere minutes.

This decentralized and widely distributed computer file makes financial services more efficient (speeding up processing time and eliminating the middleman) and helps prevent losses associated with fraud and identity theft. These losses typically cost the finance industry billions of dollars each year. Banks are beginning to use blockchain for trading, mobile payment, contracts, and identity protection.

Cybersecurity

Everyone knows there is a level of risk involved with electronic transactions, which can make digitally savvy institutions more susceptible to threats and attacks. In fact, approximately 98% of the world’s top fintech companies are vulnerable, despite their infrastructure. High-quality cybersecurity is a must this year if institutions are to avoid the expense of fraud, identity theft, and data breaches. Other fintech developments, such as AI and blockchain, are working together to resolve cybersecurity problems and perfect this fintech solution.

Learn More About the Financial Services Industry Trends

Companies who adopt fintech will see improved customer service, spending, security, customer retention, and much more, and those who leverage these in their marketing will gain a competitive advantage over those who are not following fintech trends.

At BMA, we’ve been at the forefront of the fintech industry for more than three decades, and our technology incorporates many of the latest fintech trends mentioned above into our core processing solutions. We simplify the financial industry and make money management easier for financial professionals and customers. Contact us today to learn about our platform, custom programming, or our ITaaS Solutions.