• Ivan Kot , Customer Acquisition Director IT Solution Manager at Itransition


• 27.04.2021 05:45 pm
Fintech

As in most other commercial fields, the COVID-19 crisis forced banking sector participants and their ilk into reactive mode. As a result, many fintech strategies were abandoned, shelved, or amended on the fly.

Nevertheless, whether despite the pandemic or because of it, several trends of financial software development survived the social and economic turbulence. 

1. Tech to Support Financial Literacy

Even a little extra disposable income is enough to prompt speculation about how to put it to work. On the back of the increased interest in personal investing, service providers started to think about the benefits of raising financial literacy among the customer base.

Consequently, 2020 saw a rise in the launch of apps promoting financial awareness and literacy. Such solutions use gamification tactics and rewards-based courses to help customers understand the benefits of investing in capital markets. 

Traditional and challenger banks and financial services companies are sure to continue rolling out new digital initiatives to increase their customers' financial savvy. The likelihood is that they will do so either in the form of new app products or as add-ons to primary apps.

2. Zero-Contact Biometric Verification

While fingerprint verification has been mainstream for some time, though, 2020 was the year in which people began to think more about the risks of any form of physical contact. As a result, interest grew in alternatives to fingerprint recognition for verification purposes. 

Hand-vein capturing and voice recognition are two of the more promising variants of biometric identity verification. Both can work without any requirement for physical contact during the identification process. Another advantage is that face coverings do not diminish their effectiveness. That's a welcome benefit at a time when masks are essential in many countries as a COVID-19 precaution.

3. Banking in the Cloud

With no sign of a fast letup of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of fintech-in-the-cloud may well continue apace. Confidence in cloud solutions has grown as their protective measures have gained robustness and sophistication. 

The belief among knowledgeable observers is that 2021 will be the year in which fears of falling behind in a hyper-competitive, volatile market outweigh those derived from security concerns. Only through migration to the cloud can financial institutions achieve the agility necessary to bring products to market at speed and deliver maximum responsiveness. 

4. AI in the Fintech Environment

AI is another technology trend that was hot in 2020 and looks promising for this year too. As AI is beginning to prove invaluable in many industries, enterprises reliant on financial technology turn to AI and machine learning in more significant numbers during 2021. 

Activities most likely to benefit from artificial intelligence include:

• Process optimization

• Credit scoring

• Security

• Customer support

• Automated self-service investment and trading

2021: Another Exciting Year for Fintech

The four trends highlighted in this article might be some of the most important to watch this year. However, with the pandemic prevailing globally and commerce continuing to weather forces not experienced on such a scale in modern times, it's fair to say that anything can happen. 

The one certainty is the potential for digital technology to help financial companies remain agile and competitive and support their customers' needs in these turbulent times. Therefore, it's anybody's guess as to what surprises the fintech landscape might throw up over the next few months.