The payment and money transfer industries have undergone a change as a result of expanding smartphone ownership, internet usage, and paperless currency adoption globally. Additionally, the growing efforts of fintech organizations to incorporate the most recent technologies and enhance user-friendliness are boosting demand among Gen-Z and millennials, who are very interested in technology. Additionally, the abundance of startups and established businesses offer numerous opportunities for the economic development of various micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (MSME) by giving them access to a range of rich funding options and other services, including marketplace lending, invoice finance, merchant and e-commerce finance, among others. In addition, it should be noted that the global fintech market is estimated to be worth $133.84 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $ 556.58 billion by 2030. Here are the latest trends of fintech driving the industry in 2023:

Virtual Bank Cards

Digital credit/debit cards today exist in an e-wallet rather than a pocket. Both traditional banks like Bank of America or Capital One and non-banks like Revolut, Monzo, Monobank, and N26 provide them. Customers can use virtual cards to make in-store purchases using NFC or online without running the risk of losing money to conventional credit/debit card fraud schemes. Every purchase made with a virtual credit card is often authorized through the user's banking app, making it simple to cancel a compromised virtual card and replace it with a new one.

Embedded Finance

Even though embedded finance is not a novel idea, it may represent the next big shift in payments. Through the Open Banking API, non-financial businesses are now providing conventional banking services. One example of the opportunities arising for customer interaction is Tesla's provision of auto insurance with each Tesla vehicle purchased.

Buy Now, Pay Later 2.0

The recognition of BNPL is escalating. This ground-breaking fintech trend increases sales, lets customers use things while paying for them, and cultivates steadfast client loyalty. The problem is that practically nothing prevents people from spending money they do not now have; thus, they are at a higher risk of getting into debt. Given that 43 percent of Americans will use BNPL services in 2022, this is a legitimate concern.

The solution is the BNPL 2.0 strategy, which is being led by unicorn Zilch, a London-based company. Zilch derives money through merchant commissions rather than from sales, so customers no longer have to pay fees to conventional financial institutions. Giving businesses the resources they need to become first-hand BNPL providers is the idea here, so that customers can develop relationships with brands rather than merely making automated payments.

Alternative Lending

Another one of the disruptive fintech technologies that flourished in 2022 is alternative lending, sometimes referred to as P2P lending. These internet lending services connect investors wishing to access alternative markets with borrowers who are underserved by conventional lenders. As the region begins to recover from pandemic-related losses and start developing using domestic resources rather than foreign loans, alternative lending is becoming increasingly popular in South-East Asia.

There are several types of alternative lending:

• Direct lending: Bank-type loans but without a bank.
• Venture debt: An alternative to venture capital for businesses that don’t want to lose equity to funding rounds.
• Structured equity products: Pre-packaged investment options that typically involve the issuance of bonds or other debt securities by the borrowing company.
• Debt financing: Non-bank cash flow lending, home equity loans, recurring revenue lending, etc.

Through 2023, it appears that alternative lending will remain popular. To close the gap between borrowers and investors, lending startups can provide a range of services for loan management.

Proptech: Real Estate Ownership through Digital Mortgages

Nearly 77 percent of all loans made to US homeowners are mortgages, and between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022, Americans increased their mortgage debt by $1 trillion. Digital mortgages are one of the most alluring fintech developments for business owners because mortgage loans are still incredibly bureaucratized. Proptech shortens the time and effort needed to submit a mortgage application, receive approval, and make cost-effective repayments while adhering to regulatory regulations.

Stablecoins: The New Breed of Cryptocurrency

The adoption of blockchain technology as a whole is increasing, with more than 80 million people using blockchain wallets globally and a projected market value of $11.5 billion by 2021. Investors have serious doubts about the viability and accuracy of earlier forecasts, particularly in the wake of the disastrous cryptocurrency price collapse of 2022. Stablecoins are already becoming popular as a global financial trend as a result of this. With the stability of gold- or dollar-backed fiat currencies plus the transparency and decentralization of a blockchain ledger, stablecoins should lessen the volatility of cryptocurrencies and provide a solid foundation for creating decentralized financial institutions.

Capital Market Digitalization

The over-reliance on political issues that stock exchanges experience is one of their main problems. Digitalization of the capital market combats this by placing shareholder interests ahead of political imperatives. The LSE will be able to embrace data and analytics as crucial components of capital management and maintain a better distance from politically contentious topics thanks to digitalization. The LSE chairman sees this as a compelling prospect that will be in the best interests of the business over the long run.

AI and ML for Financial Technologies

One of the trending innovations in the banking sector is chatbots, which enable consumer self-service while also lightening the load on customer assistance. However, these are but a few of the numerous AI and ML applications in fintech. AI systems are excellent at managing risks and preventing fraud. Since the COVID-19 pandemic breakout, fraud incidents have increased dramatically along with the growth of online shopping.

Biometrics

In contrast to traditional banks, fintech is driving the use of cutting-edge technologies like biometrics. The current biometrical identification options are listed below:

• Retina scans
• Fingerprints or Touch ID
• Keystroke dynamics
• Facial recognitions
• Voice patterns
• Palm geometry

Naturally, these techniques should only be used for transactions that have been whitelisted or as part of two-factor authentication. Biometrics will undoubtedly continue to be a big fintech trend for 2023 because combining multiple of them will offer far stronger security than basic passwords allow.

 

Gamification and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

It's unnecessary to add to the stress of finances, which is already significant. One of the important contemporary trends in fintech is gamification, which has its roots in long-running bonus and loyalty schemes. Blockchain meets fintech via DeFi (Decentralised Finances), a distributed ledger system. Transactions are instant, don't need supervision, can't be tampered with, and are safe by design when a shared ledger of all network users is kept. DLT can be used in a wide range of industries, including insurance tech software, decentralized payment systems, cryptocurrency exchanges, and open banking APIs enabling cutting-edge banking services.