How FinTech will Disrupt our lives in 2016
Dec 5, 2015
As an amateur futurist, I’m always looking at where disruption is taking place or set to occur. That being said, something that is trending is FinTech. It’s safe to say, this is “happening now.”
It wasn’t that long ago some of us were like, “what the heck is FinTech?” It’s the disruption that is happening in financial technology and the fruition of a lot of innovation taking place since the last few years. For mainstream poster child, think services like Apple Pay.
But in 2016, FinTech will facilitate not just mobile payments and mobile wallets. There are a lot of competitive startups in FinTech, some of whom will surely change completely how we deal with money virtually. FinTech startups often have a hybrid component and represent pain points that are relatively recent in the world. What’s amusing, is Banks have something serious to worry about and competition for Banks to integrate FinTech into their services will be fierce.
Let’s look at some companies that have gotten mentions:
- Toronto based Bionym (now called Nymi), makes Wearable computing device for identity and authentication.
- Silver Tail, fights fraud with analytics. They also are highly implicated in cyber-security.
- BillGuard began in 2010 as a service to alert users to hidden fees charged by their banks and credit card issuers.
- Planwise began as a general financial decision-making tool, but has pivoted to focus exclusively on real estate decisions and mortgages.
- Epiphyte is helping the payment industry move beyond different currencies by leveraging Bitcoin. Epiphyte, founded last year, provides software and consulting to enable banks to legally deal with Bitcoin and crypto-currency platforms.
- Companies like Invoice Ninja provide solutions for helping small businesses collect their payments so they can increase monthly recurring revenue.
- LendingClub, a high profile success story in the fintech space, its founders built a smooth and intuitive platform that connects borrowers with lenders.
- Startup companies like online lending platform Konfio are leveraging people’s growing online presence to offer microfinance services.
- OnDeck provides small business owners an alternative to banks for loans.
- Wealthfront is one of the biggest players in the growing automated financial advisory space. Founded in 2011, it now has $1 billion under the management of its proprietary algorithms.
- The Currency Cloud is gaining market share in international payments, a space that is 85%-controlled by banks.
- With a valuation of $1.75 billion, Stripe, founded in 2009 by college kids, is the real deal.
- AstroPay, the largest cross-border payment services provider in Latin America and a new player in China, provides a fraud-reducing payment card solution that enables merchants to more safely accept payments from individuals in high-fraud areas.
- Square did what every Fintech company aims to: provide a simple, tech-driven solution to a widespread problem.
- Tipalti, an international payments platform that recently raised $13 millionin funding, has created SaaS technology that automates and simplifies the mass payment process, allowing payers to seamlessly transfer money to payees practically anywhere in the world and be in compliance with banking, tax, anti-terrorist and other regulations. Tipalti is an example of a solution that simplifies company usage of payment systems, cuts down on transaction fees, and provides updates that keep you informed about changing tax codes and regulatory environments.
- Zipmark offers a solution by moving check payments online and processing them overnight.
- WePay aims to dominate one very specific Fintech segment: online payments for platforms.
These are just a small sampling, but this field is clearly going to be a big deal in 2016!
What can FinTech Accomplish for the General Public?
- Educate consumers to make smarter financial decisions
- Asset Management
- Diversify payment options
- Enhance online shopping experience
- Investment management
- Bank Technology
- Protect assets from fraud
- Provide compliance assistance
- Crowdfunding
- Cryptocurrency
- Machine Intelligence
- Real Estate
- Trading
How do you see FinTech disrupting how we deal with money in 2016?
