Understanding FinTech — Lack of Mainstream Media Attention
FinTech is one of the hottest industries at this time, which raises a lot of questions by everyday consumers. Even though most people are well aware of the issues associated with the current financial ecosystem, not everyone appreciates innovation in this sector. In fact, most everyday consumers have no idea what this “FinTech fuzz” is all about, as none of the proposed solutions are getting much mainstream media attention.
Mainstream Media Doesn’t Properly Understand FinTech
Whenever a new form of technology comes around, it will take a while until mainstream media warms up to this idea. Keep in mind these are the same corporations who insisted the Internet would never be part of nearly every household in the future, as it was just a gimmick for geeks and nerds.
At the same time, most mainstream media corporations are sponsored by private investors and financial institutions. FinTech is an industry taking the competition to these financial institutions, so it only makes sense for corporate media not to pay much attention to this sector. After all, they don’t want to annoy the people who fund part of their day-to-day operations.
That being said, the FinTech industry is not easy to understand, as it requires a lot of reading up and intelligence to make sense of it all. The financial sector is not something most people enjoy talking about, even though we often question why the system works the way it does. Posing those questions out loud yields no relevant answers, though, so we usually don’t bother with it too much.
A large part of the consumer base will only learn about things they read or hear about in mainstream media. As FinTech is hardly ever mentioned — for now — there is no major interest in this industry just yet. But in the end, everyday consumers will be using FinTech solutions, such as mobile payments, without properly knowing how it works or how they can secure their data.
Right now, FinTech is a very technical concept, although a bit of knowledge on the financial sector will go a long way. Both of these areas have always been labelled as “niche markets”, although they are also two of the most interesting and exciting aspects of society. However, as mainstream media considers these areas to be “not interesting enough”, the general population is following their lead.
Using FinTech Without Understanding The Concept
Truth be told, there is no need for everyday consumers to fully grasp the concept of FinTech. Society has allowed citizens to evolve into creatures of habit, who will quickly embrace finished products without giving it a second thought. Apple Pay, which is also a FinTech product, has been embraced by tens of thousands of consumers all over the world, even though hardly anyone questions how the system works.
This is one of the beautiful aspects of FinTech, as this sector allows mainstream consumers to use the new form of payments and banking without requiring them to be tech-savvy. Some tools will have a slightly steeper learning curve compared to others, but the main goal is to enhance the user experience by making FinTech innovations streamlined and convenient.
As long as finTech companies keep their focus on both making solutions convenient, as well as keeping an open mind towards non-traditional financial payment methods, this industry will be booming for many years to come. Relying on payment methods such as credit and debit cards, or bank accounts, will not be viable for much longer.
New and disruptive payment methods, such as Bitcoin and other peer-to-peer alternatives of the future, will play an important role in the evolution of FinTech. In fact, both of these payment methods can be seen as a FinTech innovation in their own right, as they are innovations in the financial world.
Which FinTech platform of service has you excited right now? Leave a comment below!
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Originally published at fintechist.com on November 2, 2015.
