Fintech ideas

Published in

Rehive blog

9 min readMay 19, 2018

This is a list of 101 fintech ideas that can be developed on the Rehive Platform without having to start from scratch. (Work in progress.)

The list of ideas is not necessarily unique or new. In most cases, we’ve provided links and references to existing products in the market. Follow us on Twitter to join the conversation!

On a high level, most fintech concepts are just a mix and match of

paying,
earning,
gifting,
tipping,
rewarding,
saving,
investing,
trading,
lending,
insuring,

with a creative twist of…

social platforms
peer-to-peer
subscriptions
prepaid
convenience
if-this-then-that
chatbots

that can be applied in a range of industries, such as

Cryptocurrencies and blockchains
Lending and crowdfunding
Payments and wallets
Insurance
Retail and online commerce
Banking and investing
Marketing and advertising
Governments

Traditionally only banks and large financial institutions had the resources to solve fintech problems. The emergence of platform solutions in finance is shrinking the barrier to entry for starting a small scale, yet profitable financial business. This does not mean you have to stay small scale — it just means you can start small without needing significant capital to get started.

Cryptocurrencies and blockchains

Crypto exchange — App that lets users buy, sell, store, send and receive cryptocurrencies. [Luno, Kraken]
Crypto brokerage — App that lets users buy, sell, store, send and receive cryptocurrencies, but not using a traditional exchange interface. The idea is to not even require login! [Coinbase, Shapeshift, Changelly]
Crypto subscription — Super convenient app that lets users automatically buy cryptocurrencies on periodic intervals.
Crypto arbitrage — App that lets users import cryptocurrency exchange API keys with trading access only, which automates trading between multiple exchanges when there is a favorable price difference. Users will need to manage their own floats on each exchange.
Crypto fund — Dashboard for fund managers to track crypto portfolio performance based on trading strategies. App for end-user to track performance and deposit/withdraw funds. [Here is a list of crypto hedge funds. Lawnmover]
Token sale platform — Application that lets anyone set up a token sale campaign. Crowdfunding model has been completely disrupted in 2017 by the introduction of blockchain-based token sales, a.k.a. ICO’s. [Icobox, Tokenmarket]
Token widget — Widget for websites to accept and process tokens to access content or services.
Prepaid crypto products — App for small merchants and remote tellers to sell prepaid cryptocurrencies, similar to selling airtime. The only downside is that the fee will be at least 10% more than the market rate on an exchange. User can save on fees by redeeming cryptocurrencies to a centralized wallet to avoid making too many transactions when the fees are increasing on the blockchain.
Fantasy crypto trading — Fun app for crypto fantasy trading. Easily integrate with market-rate providers like Coinmarketcap, or some leading exchanges to pull exchange rate data. Tip: Use Rehive to store rates for each user without needing to start from scratch.
Crypto lending — App for issuing loans in cryptocurrencies.
Crypto market rates aggregator — Clone Coinmarketcap by aggregating exchange rates. Tip: Save time by recording rates on Rehive. Go one step further allowing individual users to create custom index trackers.
Price alerts — App to trigger price alerts on crypto exchanges. Tip: Use Rehive to store price over time to calculate price movement.
Spend your crypto on a card — App to deposit crypto for making card purchases on the card network. []

Lending and crowdfunding

Crowdfunding app for projects — App to create a fundraising campaign for special projects that are only awarded if the campaign target has been reached.
Crowdfunding for pets — App that let’s animal lovers sponsor a dog walk or dog wash.
Subscription-based crowdfunding — App that lets funders subscribe to a monthly contribution for a community project.
Digital stokvel — clubs of twelve or more people serving as rotating credit unions or saving schemes where members contribute fixed sums of money to a central fund on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.
Need-based credit — App to dynamically calculate credit card fees based on purchase behavior, particularly favoring consumers that are buying need-based items like groceries. [ref]
Performance-based credit — App that calculates credit allowance and dynamic interest rates based on performance. This would be great for helping students.
Microlending for digital subscriptions — App that offers a microloan for users that is running short on cash flow to keep their subscription services running.

Payments and wallets

Small merchant payments — App to scan merchant QR code for making payments. Merchants don’t have to have internet, card reader or phone. A great solution for small merchants in emerging countries. Merchants only need a piece of paper. [SnapScan]
Escrow payments for lease deposits — It is hard to get your deposit back, even if you are eligible. This app will solve a big headache in the leasing market.
Tipping app — Add a credit card to an app for tipping waiters/waitresses. Tipper can track tips and add a message to give feedback to the waiter and restaurant owner.
Digital tipping — App to tip interesting digital content directly social media usernames, e.g. @username. Users can claim their tips by linking and confirming their social media accounts. Tipper can always delete tips if not claimed. Tip: Great growth hack is to allow tipping that goes into Pending until card details are added at a later stage. This way the app can remind tipper to add card details later ;-)
Subscription tipping — Setup a subscription product for tipping digital content creators directly to their social media usernames, e.g. @username. Set your own contribution per month.
Payment request — App to remind your friends to pay you for beers after a night out. The app idea is not new, yet it only seems to exist in first world countries.
Payment request for specific needs — App to ask for money from family, friends, and community that can only be used at a local store for specific goods.
Payment request for businesses — App to let businesses set up a payment request for services rendered.
Gift based payment requests — App to create a campaign to pool funds for a celebration event of a friend or family member.
Group savings — Create a group to set a savings goal for going on a trip, buying furniture for a co-living space or paying for a special occasion.
Group based remittance — App that lets a group contribute to a remittance transaction to lower the transfer fees.
Group based gifting — App that lets a group contribute to a wedding or graduation gift. Great product for stingy and lazy people ;-)
Group based purchases — Checkout online and allow multiple users to contribute to the purchase.
Meter billing for expert advice — App that charge per second or per minute for making a call to get advice from a stranger.
A platform for merchant payment processing — Simple API for online checkout, record keeping, and rebates. Tip: Use Rehive as the core ledger to keep track of your merchant clients and negotiate a deal with your local bank to obtain access credentials for card processing.
Facial recognition to authorize payments — Combine facial recognition software to authorize payment on Rehive from the mobile phone, instead of fingerprint ID.
Parking payments metering — App to see your parking rates on real-time and make payment from the app.
Cash and cardless payments for goods at events.
Top-up mobile charging station for when you forgot your charger.
Online consultations. Build an app that allows upfront payments for advice services like legal or business advice.

Insurance

Peer to peer insurance — App that makes it easy for family and friends to set up a pool of funds for insurance purposes. Everyone can submit a claim, which is only released if the majority of the group agrees.
Dynamic policy rates based on vehicle usage — App that discounts insurance policy for renting a vehicle based responsible driving stats.

Retail and online commerce

Earn by completing digital tasks — Earn rewards for completing a digital tasks like completing surveys. [Earn] Hack tip: use Google Forms’ or Typeform’ API for the survey engine.
Gamify rewards — App for small merchants to create targeted campaigns for discounts and rewards during strategic sales times.
Payment processing platform — Alternative platform for merchant payment processing. [Peach Payments, Stripe]
eCommerce checkout — App that allows users to purchase and load a voucher for making online payments at selected eCommerce stores.
A secondary market for gift vouchers — App that lets you sell unwanted gift vouchers at a discount.
Earn a bonus when completing a Trello task — App that allocates rewards based on tasks in a group Trello board that is awarded when approved by admin.
Earn money for reporting software bugs — App that lets developers earn money for creating a pull request that has been approved, core team.
Invoicing and payments tool for freelancers — [Bonsai]
Digital receipt record keeping — App that makes it easy to record receipts in a standardized data structure. Go the extra mile allowing third parties to request to buy transaction data from users. Users have control who sees their data.
Digital receipt issuing — App that lets merchants send a digital receipt, instead of printing a receipt. It would be cool to send a receipt based on facial recognition.
Subscription management for consumers — App that lets users manage subscription bills in one place. Tip: Image authorizing a subscription payment using Google or Facebook auth that is tied to a billing portal that the user controls.
Digital invoicing with a payment link. Send a digital invoice to clients that includes a link to easily pay for an invoice.

Banking and investing

Social trading — App that allows amateur traders to follow trading strategies of professional. [eToro]
If-this-then-that for savings — App that lets you save based on ridiculous conditions. It is an unscientific, but fun way to save. Think in the lines of — if I write 10 emails on Gmail, save $1 for beer, if I run 10km, save $5, etc.
Passive investing — App that lets you save a percentage on all your card payments. [Acorns]
Rewards for peer-to-peer customer acquisition — App that makes it easy for anyone to remotely onboard banking clients from a mobile phone and earns rewards.

Government

Disaster management accounts — App that allocates a budget to government officials for purchasing goods from limited suppliers.
Disaster management budgeting — App that makes financial provisioning based on the likelihood of natural disasters taking place. The App then releases funds to whitelisted government bodies is the aid of post-disaster necessities.
Multi-signature accounts — App that requirements more than one government official to sign off on a payment.
Real-time tax distribution and transparency — Every year the government releases the annual budgets for different sections. However, there is limited transparency. For example, it is not public to view the spending of the Department of Education or Health. Would it not be great if a citizen can see where the money has been spent? How much went to this school or that, what for and who signed off. In our modern times, this level of transparency is definitely possible ;-) Tip: Rehive can do most of this already. You just need to be smart in setting up the system to match your requirements.

Fun fintech ideas

Fun payments keyboard — In the old days people bartered by exchanging sheep and cows for supplies. Imagine a fun peer-to-peer payments keyboard where a House is $100, Car is $50, Cow is $10, Sheep is $5, Hay is $1. Then if you owe a friend $73, you can pay him 1 Car, 2 Cows, and 3 Hays.
Fantasy peer-to-peer betting — App that lets friends place bets on random stuff and keep track of their points. Tip: This app can easily be developed on Rehive. The easiest way would be to create a custom currency as a token for every user. This way, when you place a bet and win, the user earns points denominate in the oppositions token.. At anytime you can compare the difference between two parties or more to create a leaderboard. You can store the data about the bet in the transaction metadata ;-)
Tip street art — App that lets official street artists earn tips.

Utility and business processes

This section is great for building basic apps using Rehive’s API. It is really fun and rewarding playing around.

Account aggregation — All businesses need to maintain a real-time record of their assets. Account aggregation solutions are a great way to keep an eye on transaction movements.
Account alerts — Alert system to warn and/or request approval from end-user before completing a transaction.

Rehive scripts ideas

Rehive has created a framework for third-party developers to develop enterprise apps and services. Here are some basic ideas:

Script to run bulk credits from a local excel sheet to credit user account on Rehive.
Script to run bulk credits from a local excel sheet if the user meets certain requirements configured on Rehive.
Script to scrape bank accounts and detect incoming payments to credit a user’s account on Rehive.
Script to aggregate total transaction volume on a routine basis for faster and more efficient data analytics on Rehive.

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