7.1 Future Finances
FinTech is a relatively recent buzzword that has been used to refer to financial technologies ranging from mobile payments to insurance that "are disrupting financial services" (Marr, 2017). The expansion of the shared economy was mentioned in the Week 4 posts, and FinTech is very much a part of this trend. According to Bernard Marr, "FinTech like crowdfunding, mobile payments, and money transfer services is revolutionizing the way small businesses start up, accept payments, and go global, and they are making it easier than ever to start and run a business.". Robinson and Verhage claim that "FinTech has unsettled just about every corner of global finance".
China is currently ahead of the curve when it comes to adoption of FinTech services, which is evident in the fact that most citizens rarely carry cash or even a wallet, but conduct the majority of their transactions over WeChatpay or Alipay. As Surane and Cannon put it, in China, "money flows mainly through a pair of digital ecosystems that blend social media, commerce and banking". According to the payments consultancy Aite Group, "consumers sent more than $2.9 trillion inside the two systems in 2016, equivalent to about half of all consumer goods sold in China". This leaves companies in other countries such as the U.S. scrambling to replicate their success, with U.S. banks facing a potential losses of about $90 billion a year.
Millennials, the term everyone likes to use but no one really wants to identify with, seem to be welcoming FinTech disruptions with open arms. Venmo, the app released by PayPal that allows users to transfer money person-to-person, claims to have processed "more than $40 billion of payments in the last 12 months". Venmo's real-time feed of transactions brings up issues about privacy and what someone can discern from the short phrases used between friends might mean.
As 2019 approaches, I thought I'd wrap up the blog by sharing some of the predictions being made (by experts, not me) about FinTech in 2019. Szakiel of Learning Hub predicts that Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Process Automation will help in the development of personalised insurance products. The number of transactions using mobile payments is expected to rise globally, and the term "FinTech" is expected to become more of a norm as it enters more households and legislative courts. FinTech is also expected to help reach a greater number of "unbanked" individuals across the world, "driv[ing] mobile banking adoption outside of the high growth areas in which it currently maintains the most market share".
With regards to the creative industry, I'd imagine there's a market for creatives to help in the development of these new technologies. Mobile banking means the need to design a smooth user experience, in order to get the new users to adopt the new system. As more and more of our daily interactions become screen-based, the need for digital designers should grow (if we're not replaced by then). Those with classical graphic design training might want to consider shifting towards more screen-based work to keep up with the times.
Bibliography:
Kinery, E (2018) Venmo Is the Best Place to Stalk Your Children [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/mom-knows-what-you-were-doing-last-night-because-venmo-told-her [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Marr, B. (2017) The Complete Beginner's Guide to FinTech Everyone Can Understand [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/02/10/a-complete-beginners-guide-to-fintech-in-2017/#d06195133402 [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Nonninger, L. (2018) These are the fintech predictions we got wrong in 2018 [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/2018-fintech-predictions-business-insider-intelligence-got-wrong-2018-12/?IR=T [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Robinson, E., and Verhage, J. Quicktake Fintech [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/financial-technology-companies-disrupt-comfy-banks-quicktake [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Surance, J., and Cannon, C. (2018) Why china's Payment Apps Give U.S. Bankers Nightmares. [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-payment-systems-china-usa/ [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Szakiel, P. (2018) Fintech Trends: 7 Things Disrupting Financial Technology in 2019 [online] Learning Hub. Available at: https://learn.g2crowd.com/2019-fintech-trends [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018]
Verhage, J. (2018) Venmo Considers Making It Harder to See What Other People Are Buying [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-23/paypal-is-said-to-weigh-privacy-changes-to-venmo-after-backlash [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Zhang, M. (2018) China moves further towards cashless society as payment giants Alipay, WeChat Pay gain ground [online] South China Morning Post. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2130400/china-moves-further-towards-cashless-society-payment-giants [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018]
China is currently ahead of the curve when it comes to adoption of FinTech services, which is evident in the fact that most citizens rarely carry cash or even a wallet, but conduct the majority of their transactions over WeChatpay or Alipay. As Surane and Cannon put it, in China, "money flows mainly through a pair of digital ecosystems that blend social media, commerce and banking". According to the payments consultancy Aite Group, "consumers sent more than $2.9 trillion inside the two systems in 2016, equivalent to about half of all consumer goods sold in China". This leaves companies in other countries such as the U.S. scrambling to replicate their success, with U.S. banks facing a potential losses of about $90 billion a year.
Millennials, the term everyone likes to use but no one really wants to identify with, seem to be welcoming FinTech disruptions with open arms. Venmo, the app released by PayPal that allows users to transfer money person-to-person, claims to have processed "more than $40 billion of payments in the last 12 months". Venmo's real-time feed of transactions brings up issues about privacy and what someone can discern from the short phrases used between friends might mean.
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| (Source: Popsugar.com) |
With regards to the creative industry, I'd imagine there's a market for creatives to help in the development of these new technologies. Mobile banking means the need to design a smooth user experience, in order to get the new users to adopt the new system. As more and more of our daily interactions become screen-based, the need for digital designers should grow (if we're not replaced by then). Those with classical graphic design training might want to consider shifting towards more screen-based work to keep up with the times.
Bibliography:
Kinery, E (2018) Venmo Is the Best Place to Stalk Your Children [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-25/mom-knows-what-you-were-doing-last-night-because-venmo-told-her [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Marr, B. (2017) The Complete Beginner's Guide to FinTech Everyone Can Understand [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/02/10/a-complete-beginners-guide-to-fintech-in-2017/#d06195133402 [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Nonninger, L. (2018) These are the fintech predictions we got wrong in 2018 [online] Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/2018-fintech-predictions-business-insider-intelligence-got-wrong-2018-12/?IR=T [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Robinson, E., and Verhage, J. Quicktake Fintech [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/financial-technology-companies-disrupt-comfy-banks-quicktake [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Surance, J., and Cannon, C. (2018) Why china's Payment Apps Give U.S. Bankers Nightmares. [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-payment-systems-china-usa/ [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Szakiel, P. (2018) Fintech Trends: 7 Things Disrupting Financial Technology in 2019 [online] Learning Hub. Available at: https://learn.g2crowd.com/2019-fintech-trends [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018]
Verhage, J. (2018) Venmo Considers Making It Harder to See What Other People Are Buying [online] Bloomberg. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-23/paypal-is-said-to-weigh-privacy-changes-to-venmo-after-backlash [Accessed 30 Dec. 2018]
Zhang, M. (2018) China moves further towards cashless society as payment giants Alipay, WeChat Pay gain ground [online] South China Morning Post. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2130400/china-moves-further-towards-cashless-society-payment-giants [Accessed 31 Dec. 2018]
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