Tag: fintech course

The COVID-19 pandemic has so far infected over 1.2 million people and killed over 60,000 people, and has spread to more than 205 countries. While at some locations a handful of cases were reported, others with early community transmission have a few hundred. Unfortunately, at geographies with widespread transmission have reported thousands of cases.

This pandemic has caused major disruption to global economies owing to the containment measures and lockdowns all over. It is quite evident now that because of the virus-containment measures global economies will be hit to a great extent. Lockdowns, social-distancing and other coronavirus-containment measures have led to a massive fall in the global economic activity – plummeting consumer demand, fall in crude oil prices, crash in global stock markets, and equally decreasing global banking revenues.

The COVID-19 outbreak has had far-reaching implications for almost all possible aspects of the economy. From consumer, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, packaged goods, sports, travel, etc. every sector has been impacted in some or the other way. This pandemic is certainly devastating for many companies, but that’s not same when it comes to Fintech. Though Fintech is feeling the pressure of the increasing crisis, but this crisis is also shining a spotlight on the power of Fintechs.

The coronavirus pandemic could be devastating for many companies, but it’s also shining a spotlight on the power of Fintechs. For Fintech it’s a mixed-bag of challenges and equal or more opportunities. Let’s take a look at the challenges and opportunities for Fintech:

Challenges Facing Fintech

Jolt to Venture Capital Funding – Since, the markets are highly volatile there is limited or minimum scope of fundraising activities as investors and funding groups fall back to more cautious positions. With uncertainty over the pandemic getting over, the only hope is seen only in the medium-term where leaner fundraising Fintechs will excel again.

Conferences and Events cancelled or postponed – To break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus and, almost all events across sectors have either been cancelled or postponed. The cancelled or indefinitely postponed conferences and events are a loss too Fintechs as they help develop new business and strengthen business relationships.

Decrease in payments – Fintechs which handle payments could witness a fall in activity from consumers because of the dwindling economy.

Consumers may be less willing to invest savings – Fintechs with a focus on consumer investments may be impacted by consumer wariness about investing during such a volatile moment. Even those investors lucky enough to be relatively insulated from the economic fallout may choose to put their money in safer options for the time being.

In such a volatile market, the consumer exercises caution which and refrains from making huge investments.   This impacts the consumer investments in Fintechs.

Opportunities For Fintech

Modernised workforces are more likely to flourish – Companies sporting higher levels of modernisation and distant workforces are better positioned to not just survive but also to thrive during this difficult moment.

United approach to adopt contactless payment systems – As the world suffers through COVID19 pandemic, people from all corners of the world are finding ways to reduce the use of currency both paper and coins which changes hands many times over (possible for the virus to lurk over the surface). Encouragement from all sectors to call for digital / contactless payment systems will boost the growth of Fintechs.

High chances of reversing rollbacks on regulation – Many countries who have managed to curb the spread of coronavirus are likely to relax regulations on certain industries in order to spur economic recovery. Fintech is one of the industries targeted as part of that recovery program.

Preference to digital systems – Amid lockdowns and self-quarantine period, it has become imperative for banks to incorporate the best of digital solutions. Fintechs are well-positioned to step in to offer solutions to replace legacy systems.

The finance industry has undergone a massive technological transformation in the past few decades. This amalgamation of Finance and Technology has given birth to a new trend in the finance industry called Fintech. The Fintech industry is comprised of companies that leverage cutting-edge technology to provide creative solutions to traditional problems which were earlier unaddressed by the traditional system of banking and finance. The emphasis is on providing a seamless experience for the customer and boosting customer satisfaction by eradicating the roadblocks using technology.

With the proliferation of the internet and smart devices, consumer behaviour has changed in general. Consumers are more aware and more demanding today as compared to a few decades ago. The general technological advancement has been such that the need to provide instant solution to the problem is paramount. People are buying goods through the web using their smartphones. Now without the latest technological evolution this wouldn’t be possible, to cater to such growing demands from different industries the finance sector had to level-up and satisfy the needs of the customers. Digital wallet, digital banking, mobile banking, etc. are recent developments in the Finance industry that can be categorised under Fintech.

What’s Trending In The Fintech Domain?

The Fintech industry itself has evolved to a great extent in the last few years. With mobile banking and digital wallet being quickly adopted by the masses, some of the latest developments are still to be seen. Let’s delve deeper into the latest trends in the Fintech domain.

Contextual Banking

Contextual banking is the need of the hour, with the increase in hyper-personalization services customers are getting used to more specific products and services. The one size fits all approach is obsolete in the age of AI and machine learning. The contextual banking model is based on providing the right products or services to the customer at the right time and place. With the growth of big data and AI it is getting easier to provide contextual banking to customers based on their historical transactions and other relevant data.

Robo-Advisors

Technology has made it possible to train robots to carry out complex tasks that earlier required human intellect and interference. Robo-Advisor is a recent development in the Fintech industry where robots will provide complex investment and asset management solutions to customers. The advisory services can be availed online and require very minimal to no human involvements. Robo-Advisors factor in the risk-return profile of the customer and then accordingly provide investment solutions.

Robotic Process Automation

Robotic process automation continues to be a major trend in the Fintech segment. It not only helps the Finance companies to be more efficient in their functioning but also helps them to effectively comply with the latest rules and regulations set by regulatory bodies. The automation is not just limited to substituting human labour and performing a task but also includes suggesting improvements to the existing processes.

Blockchain

The recent technological developments have also exposed us to a new league of criminals who are tech-savvy and technologically advanced to break into our online portals. In the contemporary digital world, data is the real deal, identity fraud and theft of data, in general, is a major concern with increasing dependence on technology. Blockchain is being adopted to boost security in the financial services industry, from smart contracts to digital payments and identity management it has a whole lot to offer.

Innovations In The Mobile Payment Systems

With the increased internet penetration and affordable smartphones, the whole world has entered the digital revolution. Transferring payments using smartphone applications has been the norm since the past couple of years and rightly so given the convenience it brings to the customers. The technology however is not static and drives further innovations into this Fintech segment, like for example biometric access control that includes facial and finger print recognition. Other developments include suggesting users on their purchase decisions by factoring in their transaction history. There is much more going on in the mobile payment segment of the Fintech space.

Conclusion

The Fintech industry is still in its nascent phase and is growing by the day. It has proved to be a game-changer in the Finance industry and still has a lot more to offer.

Breaking down the evolution

Have you ever wondered what would be the case if money wasn’t into the picture? To simplify even further imagine a world where the banking and finance industry is alien to people. Well, it was the case when money wasn’t used as a medium of exchange. The barter economy was running the whole game, exchanging goods for goods and finding people who needed them. It was a lot more complicated than it sounds.

It’s hard to imagine a time like the barter economy when we are sending money through smartphones using the Fintech companies.

When money was introduced as a medium of exchange, it simplified a lot of things that were no less than chaos earlier. From providing a unit of measurement to assigning a standard value for goods and services there was a lot that money solved. But there was still a whole lot that could be done with money as a medium of exchange.

Realizing the potential of this ultimate exchange medium, the bank started leveraging on the multiplier effect of money; there was no end to this revolution of wealth creation and wealth management. As we progressed further and became more technically advanced, technology was leveraged to create Fintech companies, an amalgamation of finance and technology that helped solved the loopholes of traditional banking methods.

Popular trends in Fintech

All the major economies which were earlier cash-oriented are going cashless; this observation is enough to say that the Fintech industry is thriving in the contemporary landscape. The introduction of the internet totally changed the game for almost every industry and the banking & finance industry were no exception to this chain of progressive evolution.

A few decades ago it was just a thought and now it has been the norm. The deep internet penetration and introduction of smartphones have paved the way for success for companies in the Fintech industry. The next big thing in the Fintech industry seems more in favor of digitisation and automation of financial services. The Fintech industry has been limitless so far, let’s look into some prominent developments within this sector that will come out as a game-changer.

Digital Lending Portals

There are companies in the Fintech domain whose main goal is to bring more transparency and convenience in the whole lending process. To minimize the cost of the loan and make it available for even the poorest individual has been the mission for these companies. All of this on a digital portal that can be accessed through your smartphones and laptops, it has been never this easy to get credit from the banks.

Robo-Advisors

The future is all about automation; it has been rightly proved with this big thing in the Fintech circle. No, it’s not a sci-fi movie; robots are here to guide humans on their investment decision. These cutting edge technologies use algorithms to find the best investment solutions for individuals and businesses. It covers all aspects of your investments; from rebalancing to asset allocation you can trust your Robo-advisor for maximizing your investment returns.

RegTech

Leveraging technology to solve regulatory challenges for financial institutions is what RegTech is all about. It’s a combination of the words ‘regulatory’ and ‘technology’. When you are dealing with financial products and services the risks are endless, RegTech is here to save you by mitigating the risks and providing solutions to challenges using technology.

Conclusion

The next big thing in the Fintech industry is not about payment solutions using smartphones but it takes into consideration the broader set of challenges like financial inclusion, regulatory barriers for businesses, credit for the remotest consumer, etc. There is a major scope for companies that are willing to solve these set of challenges.

Also known as Financial Technology, the word Fintech is used to describe companies that give financial services to consumers and businesses using technology. Therefore making it a combination of finance and technology. Those who are engaged in this industry aim to create new technologies that can take over traditional institutions like banks and insurance companies.

Benefits of Fintech

● It gives you protection against risks that no other traditional insurance company will offer.
● You can save a lot of money since you do not have to spend money by hiring local rental staff.
● Helps in making quick decisions as it can compile the customer’s detailed profile along with the financial history, risk factors, and habits, all at once. It is hence helping in making lending decisions easier, quicker and more efficient.
● With the help of this technology, you do not have to contact the customer face to face, if they have a sales terminal near them with a wave of their phones, they can make contactless payments.
● Smooth transfer of money is one of the most essential features of fintech companies and you can always check your bank account details with a touch of your phone.
● The requirement to go to the bank to check your transactions is no more needed.
● Readily available loans to students as well as the public.

Scope of Fintech

Fintech has completely changed the way that companies and customers do payments and transactions on a day to day basis. This is also the reason why investments worldwide in Fintech is skyrocketing.
The best part about the financial industry in India is the fact that eighty-seven percent of the bills are made in cash, and almost forty percent of the population is not related to banks. Hence, it has a vast market place that is untapped for such startups.
Fintech companies use smartphones as a medium of interaction. Hence, with the booming industry of smartphones in India, the net penetration of this technology is also increasing steadily. The potential that Fintech has in India can’t be overstated.
Along with that, any existing financial institution or a traditional bank can use Fintech to create a healthy financial relationship between their present customers by introducing new digital products and enhance their service performance. It can also help in spreading modernization to traditional areas and educate many on technology thus facilitating a more easier way of transactions.
Things will continue to look good for the Indian Fintech market as technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and intelligent automation can take Fintech to an altogether another level.

Scope for Fintech Courses in India

Courses on Fintech are widely provided in India. Some even include internships along with the course. If you are planning to get into the field of Fintech, it is much better if you do a crash course on it or have a certification for the same.
There are various courses like online courses, Fintech foundation programs, Fintech Prodegree, MBA in Fintech, etc. that are offered in multiple universities around India. To take up these courses, the candidate should have a bachelor’s degree or at least a background in computers.
With the increase in the market for Fintech technology, comes the rise in opportunity for people to work in the same field. Countless startups have entered the market and are looking for talented minds and workers to make their business a success.

Some of the examples of Fintech companies are:

● Paytm
● BHIM
● Mobikwik
● PhonePe
● PayU
● Shubh Loans
● Lazypay
● Policy Bazaar etc

Conclusion

Fintech startups have created a revolutionary change in the way payments are given and received. Businesses have an easier way of accepting payments. There is no need to worry about hard cash, and other applications use options like Ola money and their own software wallets for payments, which makes it even easier for people to facilitate transactions in their day to day lives.
With the increasing popularity of this trend in this technology and more fintech courses coming online, the requirement for experienced and trained individuals are increasing, making this a worthwhile investment.

Even students get to do internships for companies such as Paytm and BHIM, which says a lot about the scope for jobs in this field. Having a certification in Fintech will make sure that you can start your work in this field with a good post and a satisfying salary.