The financial services industry is in the nascent phase of digital transformation. The industry that gave rise to the use of electronic computing in business enters its next stage of technological evolution.
We call our industry briefing “FinTech Rising” to emphasize the growing global traction and innovation in financial technology, the acceleration of the transition from the initial electronic financial technology systems to their digital FinTech cousins.
The year 2014 began with an emphasis on the acceleration of digital, mobile payments and ended with the introduction of Apple Pay as the top story. We wrapped up 2014 with a blogpost on predictions for 2015, with the best picks from our industry’s thought leaders.
The last two articles on that list were both surprising and obvious: no big splash for 2015. We’ve examined a lot of interesting pushes happening in payments and FinTech, and it seems clear that 2015 is gearing towards a focus on monetization rather than radical innovation.
“FinTech Rising” starts with the future of cryptofinance. We look at the legitimation of two currencies and their implications for the future of money and trade.
Yet the systems of the present are strongly resilient. Fraud is ever present, even in the new core of mobile payments, Apple Pay. Legacy systems, including paper, remain a problem and focus of the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s move to a “faster payments” system.
Throughout it all, we harbor notions that the existing, established institutions will embrace and be embraced by the digital innovators—an open question, to be sure. Many of these topics are ripe for debate, and we’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop us a line in the comments.