Fintech is a trendy term which has been fluctuating around business blogs, newspapers and directors' boards since 2015. The usage of pieces of technology to automate, simplify or speed up bulky financial services/applications have been so looked after by small, medium and enterprise companies that, in 2018, over 20% of Forbes' reports were fintech-related. With this being said, there are powerful examples of why fintech has been actively and tangibly changing the world of finance, let's analyse them in simple terms.
Why Fintech? What's Object-Oriented Finance?
As mentioned above, the whole purpose of fintech-oriented processes is related to reducing timescales in order to speed up bulky financial-related processes. In fintech, each financial application has been categorised towards objects, which are tasks resolved by a complex Python-coded application. This may sound like a complex matter, but, in reality, it isn't. Imagine applying for a mortgage for your first house: the provider will have to look for your credit score, your bank details, your address and more. Each of these tasks could be considered as an object, which is then processed by the tool itself automatically. This is why it is known as "object-oriented" finance.
Some Examples
Mortgages and, in general, property-related financial tasks, could be very bulky and could take up to months for being processed. Santander, recently elected the most advanced bank for mortgages and property finance applications, has implemented a new fintech-oriented division completely relying on the blockchain, which moved the interest of fintech-oriented tasks towards a more mainstream public. It has been seen, in fact, how over 25% of banks worldwide started to develop blockchain-based tools after Santander, a clear example of how fintech has moved towards a more mainstream audience and it's definitely not a "startup matter" anymore.
Why Data?
Data has become another extremely important matter, not just within fintech, but in technology as a whole. Some app developers in the UK have stated how data has been a constantly requested feature on mobile from clients, for example. Big data applied to finance, especially fintech, is helping to quickly process financial applications (small, medium or big) or any form of loan, to reference. Even after GDPR, which has limited the use and the collection of data massively in 2018, we can still safely say that data is moving fintech and finance as a whole.
To Conclude
Fintech is, now more than ever, a mainstream topic. There are thousands of companies worldwide which are developing tools, portals or even apps towards automation for financial processes. With this being said, we can safely say and admit that 2020 and above will be the years of financial technology.
