Business Services, Technology

How FinTech can Overcome Challenges and Surge Towards the Future

The biggest opponent that fintech faces is a combination of itself and the regulatory environments that the technology finds itself in. Fintech shows a lot of promise in terms of solving some of the problems that are created by an underbanked population. Financial technology investments are also soaring, indicating that a revolution is imminent. For fintech to finally take off and become something more than digital wallets, a few changes need to be made.

Trust

One of the key aspects to fintech in the coming years will be trust, and not in the “build a warm relationship with customers” sort of way. Brand recognition will likely play a role in the future, but fintech will need to overcome challenges related to security that modern banks don’t contend with. For instance, the disappearance of bitcoins from Mt. Gox puts a major hole in the silver lining for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Renewing that trust will be crucial for fintech startups moving forward.

Big Data

Big data has become more than just a buzzword because it powers nearly everything we do. Big data can tell companies about customer behaviors and  provide insight into buying habits. It can also crowdsource certain decisions, or provide a crowdsources index similar to the volatility index. The range of applications for big data are nearly limitless.

Regulation

Perhaps the largest area ripe for disruption is regulation. Often times, well-meaning regulation can end up crippling banks and startups trying to provide a basic service. There is no quick fix, except to vote for representatives who do not engage in knee-jerk politicking. Yet even the best of intentions can have unintended consequences.

Bio: Firoz Patel is a recognized leader with a vision for the future of the payment processing market. Firoz Patel was the former CEO of AlertPay Inc., and the current Executive Vice President of the Payza platform.