Fintech?

So what is Fintech? Why is it important?

FinTech stands for Financial Technologies, and in its broadest definition, that’s exactly what it is. Technologies used and applied in the financial services sector, chiefly used by financial institutions themselves on the back end of their businesses. But more and more, FinTech is coming to represent technologies that are disrupting traditional financial services, including mobile payments, money transfers, loans, fundraising, and asset management.

Don’t assume that FinTech is simply a fad or buzzword: Accenture recently released a report which found that investment in financial technology around the world has increased dramatically from $930 million in 2008 to more than $12 billion by early 2015.

And this is likely only to continue to increase, as FinTech touches not just the financial services sector, but every business the financial services industry deals with (which is to say, all of them). FinTech startups are small and agile, able to disrupt the lumbering behemoths that are traditional financial institutions and innovate quickly — and your business can use that to your advantage.

How Financial Technologies are changing businesses.

It used to be that if you wanted to start a business, you would go to your local bank to ask for a loan or seek out a traditional investor. If a company wanted to accept credit cards, it would need an account with a big credit provider — not to mention a land line and bulky equipment. But this is no longer the case.

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.