| | MARCH 20209TECHFIN IS HELPING TECHNOLOGICAL BUSINESSES ENTER THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY WHILE STILL PROVIDING BEST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCEwith the users more efficiently be-cause their users are already on the respective platforms. These busi-nesses can more effectively pro-duce an appropriate experience for their consumers. 3) Most companies which are entering the TechFin market al-ready have services which consum-ers are using, making it easier to provide the consumers with finan-cial services. For example, to access Google Pay, you only need to sign-in through your Google account and enter your card details, which is much more convenient than hav-ing to download and register for a completely different application. Most people consider TechFins to be a magnification of FinTechs. However, they are more complex and frankly, a whole new market. They originate in the technologi-cal sector and focus on e-Com-merce, connecting both consum-ers and businesses. They are the amalgamation of marketing and finance. Their main agenda is to enhance customer experience by making use of data and informa-tion already available to them. TechFins have started growing and coming into international markets to offer financial services directly to consumers. Most TechFin companies have advanced backend technology, making it difficult for banks, fi-nancial institutions, and FinTechs to compete with them. Some com-panies which are on the TechFin bandwagon are: 1) Amazon: Amazon was one of the first companies who took ad-vantage of the new TechFin tech-nologies. It has en-hanced its customer experience by offer-ing multiple finan-cial services through its application. It al-lows customers to add money to their Amazon Balance through Amazon Cash. Amazon Pay also allows custom-ers to pay for prod-ucts and services. It dispenses loans to small-scale and medium-sized companies and is also planning on offering its cus-tomers checking accounts by col-laborating with major banks. 2) Google: Google started a service called Google Pay which allows its users to register through their Google accounts. Google Pay allows users to pay each other as well as pay for products and ser-vices through the application. 3) Facebook: Facebook has also recently started interpersonal payments through the Messenger application. 4) Apple: Apple allows users of iMessage to send money to oth-er people who also use iMessage. 5) Rakuten: Rakuten is a mes-saging application from Japan which has approximately 800 mil-lion users. However, it is not just a messaging application. It also provides mortgages, security ser-vices, and credit cards to its us-ers. It is considered as one of the largest online retail marketplaces in Japan. 6) Alibaba: Owner of Alibaba from China, Jack Ma, is the mas-termind behind TechFin. Alibaba has recently placed both feet into the financial sector by offering its customers loans depending on their history with the website, as-set management services, and pay-ment services. According to fi-nance experts within the financial indus-try, financial institu-tions will be chal-lenged by TechFin companies which are already built on digital platforms. These large tech-nology companies have already found a way to utilize ad-vanced backend solutions which will allow them to compete with finance companies. Technology companies use these backend solutions to reduce their costs of operation and monetize from their business models. Tech gi-ants which have been mentioned above have the digital skills and large consumer bases that will help them conquer the financial space which was exclusively re-served for banks and non-banking financial institutions. Due to their advanced back-end technologies and established names in the market, consum-ers trust them when it comes to their financial services. The de-mand for TechFin products and services will only increase as the years go by because consumer trust is growing when it comes to digital offerings. Rajendra Awasthi
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