We are in the age of technology, there’s no doubt about. Devices, interfaces, software and gadgets continue to develop at a rate of knots and we’re seeing constant transformations in virtually every industry and sector.
One area where we’re seeing the most significant evolution on account of technological advancements is within the finance sector. So much so, in fact, that it has led to the coinage of a whole new bracket of technology: FinTech.
What is FinTech?
FinTech comes from the amalgamation of Financial Technology. It’s an innovative movement towards the development of products, applications and services that aim to eclipse traditional finance methods in favour of more modern and efficient approaches.
FinTech is being used to improve a whole host of areas within the industry including customer banking experiences, data security and the automation of key processes.
Developments are moving so fast, in fact, that they can prove difficult to keep up with so we’ve put together a few of the most prominent FinTech trend predictions to watch out for in 2019.
The rise of conversational banking
One of the most highly anticipated FinTech trends for the coming year is the rise of voice banking, or conversational banking.
As messaging platforms, instant messaging applications and chatbots become the UK’s preferred brand engagement vehicles, conversational user interfaces (CUI) prepare to revolutionise the future of banking experiences.
Global management consultation firm, Accenture discovered that 63% of us now use messaging apps to speak to businesses, favouring human-like interaction over keyboards and touchscreens.
With fast-paced advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and natural-language processing (NLP), this trend is set to become prolific across digital finance services during 2019.
Developments in digital payment solutions
Soon it’ll be fair to say that paper money is very much a thing of the past as new transactional experiences take the forefront in finance.
While paper money still remains reasonably popular at the moment, developments in cryptocurrency over the next year or so are expected to inspire even more businesses and customers to make the transition from traditional banking to digital transfers.
Further moves towards mobile banking
You don’t need an industry expert to tell you that the move towards mobile banking is showing no signs of slowing down in 2018.
In fact, it’s showing no signs of slowing down for the foreseeable future as 72% of the UK population – that’s more than 35 million people – are expected to bank via their mobile phones by 2023.
Innovations in data security
Finally, experts are also predicting further advancements in the world of digital finance security and more specifically, Blockchain.
For those who don’t know, Blockchain is a digital ledger which lists data records as a series of blocks to be recorded chronologically and publicly. It is a robust and incorruptible decentralised technology which protects information from being shared with large external entities such as Google.
As well as the FinTech trends summarised above, we do also expect to see continued developments in usage of the Cloud.
If you’d like to learn more about our cloud-based bookkeeping software, Pandle – go to our Features page or register your FREE account.