In a newly released Fintech 2.0 whitepaper, Money20/20, the place where the global fintech community does business, lays out its vision for the next era of fintech, as we enter the recovery phases of COVID-19. The paper predicts seismic shifts for the industry - most notably that digital currencies will become widely adopted in the banking sector in the next three to five years.

In this whitepaper on the future of fintech, Money20/20 predicts that one of the major winners of this new era of fintech will be digital currencies, with five of the ten largest economies having Central Bank Digital currencies in the market in the next three to five years. While existing digital currency and crypto players such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will have a role to play in supporting crypto entry for emerging economies, Money20/20 predicts that most developed economies will soon begin to issue their own tokens backed by governments.

The research further suggests enormous potential for fintech companies in this tipping point, predicting that three of the top ten slots of the world’s most valuable companies will be in the fintech sector in the next five years much like tech companies taking 7 of the top 10 slots in the past decade.

There are key drivers that play a role in determining the next era of fintech. The current macro environment which the world resides in, the operational changes taking place in the wider technology space, and the way in which data is playing a much larger role in creating efficiencies, will factor into the changes to come. Money20/20’s whitepaper argues the following five predictions will in turn become the building blocks to Fintech 2.0:

1. Assets & Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs): Five of the ten largest economies will have CBDCs in the market.
2. Banking Technology Stacks: Banking tech stacks will be predominantly cloud-based, with significant elements of core processing being open-source based.     
3. Commerce Experiences: Personalized cross-platform digital algorithms or Super-agents will represent 20% of retail commerce transactions.
4. Data: Like Windows, Unix, Mac, Android and iOS today, Data platforms will become the new operating system as the industry shifts from Big Data to Good Data.
5. Ecosystem: Fintech companies will take three of the top ten slots of the most valuable companies.

Money20/20 has helped bring the sharpest visions of where the future of fintech lies and some of the new ideas shaping it. After a decade of being at the center of the inflection point between the financial services and technology industry, this latest research furthers Money20/20’s mission of facilitating and driving conversation on the future of fintech and is designed to straddle the line between audacity and reality to generate thought and discussion which will pave the way for better days ahead.

Sanjib Kalita, Editor in Chief at Money20/20 said of the research: “Fintech has become a vital part of the economy during COVID-19 and will become even more critical as we enter this recovery phase. Just as the last downturn triggered Fintech 1.0, the pandemic accelerated digital adoption and triggered a new era of fintech, which we are calling Fintech 2.0. 

Scarlett Sieber, Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Money20/20 added: “The next era of fintech we believe is going to be special. We have been privy and fortunate enough to have conversations with key industry players over the years to understand how we are going to see these incredible changes move the needle for the sector. Money20/20 has helped to facilitate and engage in key conversations around fintech for its major turning points over the past decade, and we’re excited to once again be at the forefront as we move into this new era.”

Money20/20’s whitepaper ‘The Building Blocks of Fintech 2.0’ can be accessed here and you can join the debate at MoneyFest, Money 20/20’s digital event in July and during the2021 Money20/20 shows live in Amsterdam and Las Vegas where we come together as a community to take this discussion further.