Business / Local
Fintech Trends for 2018
01 Jul 2018 at 03:12hrs | Views
Designed by Freepik
In this article, we will focus on the main fintech trends that will mark the path of the sector in the coming months.
All the reports made by the main Fintech companies indicate that 2018 will be the year of its final consolidation. But according to expert central London accountants, there will also be changes, as among the new business models that are consolidated are RegTech companies or Neobanks.
Regarding technology, it seems that the incorporation of the blockchain is already unstoppable in the same way as Artificial Intelligence. Other fintech trends are financing through Public Offers of Cryptocurrency (ICOs) and the expansion of APIs.
Fintech trends that will shake the sector in 2018
New business models that are consolidated:
RegTech
RegTech companies use new technologies to solve the regulatory problems facing the financial industry. Its objective is for large companies to be able to comply with regulations in a more efficient and agile way, to address the possible risks related to stability and financial integrity and the protection of consumer data.
Expect companies in the sector to focus above all on cybersecurity, Big Data and customer service.
Neobanks
The newly created banks and the Challenger Banks (neobanks with banking licenses) allow the integration of most financial services in smartphones. Their size is smaller than that of traditional banks and they differ from these in their main objective: to improve services and lower prices to optimise the user experience.
Most startups focused on this business model start being neobanks (i.e. without their own license and working for a traditional entity) and then evolve to other projects with a banking license.
PropTech
Companies in this sector use new technologies in order to improve the services associated with the real estate market. Its field of action focuses on activities such as investment, management, marketing, financing or data analysis, among others. Many companies that provide digital solutions to the real estate sector are based on the P2P model.
Regarding the technologies that are being applied most in the sector, the fintech tendencies that we can highlight are two: the blockchain and Artificial Intelligence:
Blockchain
This is technology that allows managing information in a secure manner thanks to the distributed, decentralised and synchronised record of data. It can be said that it is an accounting book in which all the transactions carried out are collected. The message it transmits is called a token and the information it contains can represent all kinds of assets, such as money in the form of bitcoins.
The financial sector is the one that has used this type of technology the most but little by little it is reaching other types of companies such as those belonging to the real estate market. Its use has been extended by the security it offers to the companies that employ it.
Artificial intelligence
Its use by companies in the fintech sector implies that they analyse a large volume of data in order to create services that anticipate the needs of their customers. The true success of this technology lies in the number of solutions that it can provide both now and in the future.
Other fintech trends
ICOs (Initial Coin Offering). Last year the investment in ICO surpassed 5,000 million dollars and the analysts assure that in the coming months the number will increase in a remarkable trend. An ICO can be defined as a collective funding platform through which a project can be paid for by cryptographic tokens. Investors can participate in it by paying in bitcoins or in ethers (public cryptocurrency).
The main difficulty that this form of financing faces is the lack of regulations. Companies in the sector are already looking for ways to self-regulate and create a code of good practices.
APIs (Application Program Interfaces). Thanks to APIs, a new world of services has opened to offer to the clients of the companies in the fintech universe. These are some examples: the reduction or elimination of transaction fees for store cards, and banks can now offer loans at points of sale or allow identity verification through third parties.
All the reports made by the main Fintech companies indicate that 2018 will be the year of its final consolidation. But according to expert central London accountants, there will also be changes, as among the new business models that are consolidated are RegTech companies or Neobanks.
Regarding technology, it seems that the incorporation of the blockchain is already unstoppable in the same way as Artificial Intelligence. Other fintech trends are financing through Public Offers of Cryptocurrency (ICOs) and the expansion of APIs.
Fintech trends that will shake the sector in 2018
New business models that are consolidated:
RegTech
RegTech companies use new technologies to solve the regulatory problems facing the financial industry. Its objective is for large companies to be able to comply with regulations in a more efficient and agile way, to address the possible risks related to stability and financial integrity and the protection of consumer data.
Expect companies in the sector to focus above all on cybersecurity, Big Data and customer service.
Neobanks
The newly created banks and the Challenger Banks (neobanks with banking licenses) allow the integration of most financial services in smartphones. Their size is smaller than that of traditional banks and they differ from these in their main objective: to improve services and lower prices to optimise the user experience.
Most startups focused on this business model start being neobanks (i.e. without their own license and working for a traditional entity) and then evolve to other projects with a banking license.
PropTech
Companies in this sector use new technologies in order to improve the services associated with the real estate market. Its field of action focuses on activities such as investment, management, marketing, financing or data analysis, among others. Many companies that provide digital solutions to the real estate sector are based on the P2P model.
Regarding the technologies that are being applied most in the sector, the fintech tendencies that we can highlight are two: the blockchain and Artificial Intelligence:
Blockchain
This is technology that allows managing information in a secure manner thanks to the distributed, decentralised and synchronised record of data. It can be said that it is an accounting book in which all the transactions carried out are collected. The message it transmits is called a token and the information it contains can represent all kinds of assets, such as money in the form of bitcoins.
The financial sector is the one that has used this type of technology the most but little by little it is reaching other types of companies such as those belonging to the real estate market. Its use has been extended by the security it offers to the companies that employ it.
Artificial intelligence
Its use by companies in the fintech sector implies that they analyse a large volume of data in order to create services that anticipate the needs of their customers. The true success of this technology lies in the number of solutions that it can provide both now and in the future.
Other fintech trends
ICOs (Initial Coin Offering). Last year the investment in ICO surpassed 5,000 million dollars and the analysts assure that in the coming months the number will increase in a remarkable trend. An ICO can be defined as a collective funding platform through which a project can be paid for by cryptographic tokens. Investors can participate in it by paying in bitcoins or in ethers (public cryptocurrency).
The main difficulty that this form of financing faces is the lack of regulations. Companies in the sector are already looking for ways to self-regulate and create a code of good practices.
APIs (Application Program Interfaces). Thanks to APIs, a new world of services has opened to offer to the clients of the companies in the fintech universe. These are some examples: the reduction or elimination of transaction fees for store cards, and banks can now offer loans at points of sale or allow identity verification through third parties.
Source - Agencies
