The end of fintech (as we know it) – Teodor Blidarus, CEO & Co-Founder at FintechOS

Over the past few years, the lines between various financial services, and even financial and non-financial institutions, have become increasingly blurred. Technology has become a great leveller and fintech empowers any organization to offer personalized financial products and services.

As the cost-of-living crisis progresses, 2023 will likely be the year this all comes to a head. To synergize, cut costs, and remove redundancy, the mass adoption of embedded finance will see fintech become ubiquitous across online customer journeys, with providers either partnering with fintechs or becoming fintechs themselves.

Once every company has become a fintech company, fintech will cease to be its own category. The winner then will be the software that empowers fintech adoption across the market, while financial institutions that neither embed their products nor embed other services in theirs, will lose out.

Tightening belts – Paula Costea, VP Product Management at FintechOS

As the cost-of-living crisis deepens across the world, consumer priorities are shifting. While it was fun to invest in crypto during lockdown, or helpful to spread the costs of a new purchase with BNPL, customer focus is now on affordable products and effective budgeting with financial management tools.

While it may seem counter-intuitive, now is the time for providers to push forward on the digital transformation they're potentially second-guessing, allowing these providers to design and offer customer-centric solutions that meet the changed and changing needs of their customers, deepening relationships with their target market and setting their businesses up for success in the short, medium and long term. Fintechs will enable companies to offer customers tailored financial products where and when they need them, embedded seamlessly into their daily life. Switching focus to data-driven products and new business models would require companies to drive better operational efficiency and automation of the back office processes to lower costs.

As such, while many may see the cost-of-living crisis and coming recession as a dark time for fintechs, providers of efficient financial technology may well be needed more than ever.