Fintech is also known as financial technology. It’s a catch-all term for any technology that's used to augment, streamline, digitize or disrupt traditional financial services.
Financial technology
has been around for decades, but over the last few years, fintech companies
have revolutionized the way people interact with financial services.
Fintech refers to
software, algorithms, and applications for both computer and mobile-based
tools. In some cases, it includes hardware, too-- like smart, connected piggy
banks or virtual reality (VR) tending platforms. The best fintech companies enable the run of tasks like depositing checks, moving
money among accounts, paying bills, or applying for financial aid. They also
encompass technically intricate concepts like peer-to-peer lending or crypto
exchanges.
The financial services
sector isn’t typically synonymous with nimbleness. But today, adaptability and
quick iteration is precisely what consumers and business owners expect and
increasingly need.
Fintech helps expedite
processes that once took days, weeks, or even months, like requesting a credit
score report or sending in an international money transfer. There has been
speculation about how fintech might help expedite traditionally red-tape-bound
processes like distributing economic stimulus funds.
Fintech also holds the
potential to improve financial inclusion: in some parts of the world, fintech
fills needs for the unbanked, where governmental or institutional support is
lacking.
Now you are thinking
about whether it is safe to use or not. The idea that the fintech companies
adhere to some kind of higher moral standard than the big banks is also proving
largely illusory. To date, there is no consensus on exactly how safe fintech
solutions are across the board. Such assurances will likely be difficult to
come by, given the scope and scale of fintech proliferation.
Fintech is officially a major player in the global economy, business landscape, and fabric of modern society at large. The field is widespread and rapidly growing and it appears to stay here for long.