Brisk business

Fintech is the popular  abbreviation for financial technology. It is a blend of tech and innovation to improve and change old-school finance methods. In 2017, fintech broke new records with an 18 per cent increment in venture capital investment at a global scale. In the US alone, the rise was about 30 per cent as per Accenture.  

Fintech is offering a lot of exciting opportunities which includes areas like digital currencies artificial intelligence, voice interfaces, interactive features, etc. The result is a product and a simple financial solution that scales to multiple levels. 

Career opportunities across this sector range from financial analysts to developing innovative AI. Fintech remains as one of the hottest segets globally for job seekers, with the astronical rise of PayTm in India, the sector has gained a lot of user attraction.

Current market scenario

A popular and emerging trend is major financial institutions collaborating with fintech start-ups. Either they are investing in the same, encouraging students to join them or even work on emerging opportunities. 

As per a McKinsey report, at least 80 per cent of financial institutions had similar partnerships. The global venture capital (VC) investment in this sector for 2018 was more than $30.8 billion, up from $1.8 billion in 2011.

Innovations and trends

While technological breakthroughs remain unpredictable, some innovations have influenced Fintech for good:

• AI with fintech is dominating the market in newer and completely different ways. Digital and voice assistants are being evolved to handle banking functions which would provide a seamless customer experience. 
• Kasito partnered with MasterCard for launching smart bots and daily SMS. The idea was to simplify spending on a day-to-day basis.
• With multiple facets of technology and software being used in fintech, collaboration is the key for most business associations 
• Using blockchain technology, banks across Asia tested cross-border funds transfer. So, advanced use of blockchain is expected in this sector.

Future trends

• A potential issue that Fintech faces is conquering the market of developed countries, which is a huge percentile. Gaining trust and making the shift to such methods — as compared to traditional modes — is not easy. In this reference, start-ups are connecting at the grass-root levels. A Nigerian tech start-up called NetPlus collaborated with MasterCard for building trust via a secure digital payment system. 
• Along with creating a good consumer experience, there’s also a need to secure fintech from threats. 
• Chinese Fintech companies are scaling the market much faster than their western counterparts. This consolidation may give the country an upper edge. On the whole, the new-age fintech industry is expected to create and change the course of the finance industry.

— Inputs courtesy Hexgn.com