Internet, Cloud, Mobile... FinTech - paving the future of tech.
As in case with anything disruptive, internet adoption was slow at first, but can you imagine a successful company nowadays without a web-presence?
Not to name without having immediate access to data on the cloud, or an app when it comes to consumer-facing services?
All members of the stack: internet, cloud and mobile, share similar adoption stories. Same can be expected regarding FinTech.
The fourth layer in the stack or the fourth platform - FinTech is moving from just a business model of its own, to a broader scope, opening windows of opportunities to innovations and supporting other business models just like the Internet, cloud computing or mobile did.
The Stack—Internet, Cloud, and Mobile
Let’s take an example of the internet to spot the pattern of how all the members of the stack disrupted the world around us.
The emergence of commercial internet in the mid-90s initially emphasized creating an online presence for already existing businesses. A website of a retail business, was just a mere representation of the products offered, with no functionality behind.
Something that already existed was just put on the internet.
What eventually happened, is that the internet supported the emergence of ventures unthought before, the connectivity it provided became the core ingredient behind the tech innovation.
The cloud, as we now know it, began when companies started using applications with server virtualization, for the sake of increasing their scalability — now SaaS accounts for 30% of all software.
By the time mobile came along it was a matter of formatting existing content for smaller screens. Companies started expanding access to content as an increasing user-base was in their utmost interest.
As mobile became ubiquitous companies started using it not only as a support to desktop content, but as an independent platform enabling emergence of native apps - maps, camera or video features, messaging, music, games, etc.
Introducing FinTech to the Stack ✔️
The stack - originally referring to the internet, cloud, and mobile services - now includes a fourth pillar—FinTech.
This new addition facilitates financial services through digital means and reaps the benefits that comes with it. The stack connects businesses with their customers, giving them access to infinite cloud storage, powerful mobile software and computing capabilities.
FinTech adds a one-stop shop element by introducing integrated payment methods, lending options, and insurance approval access.
In many ways FinTech is an exceptional addition to the offerings the stack provides. But instead of being an independent financial service, it is most effective if connected with the rest of the stack as embedded finance.
This emphasis on FinTech illustrates how businesses recognize the importance of incorporating the service as a core ingredient of every business model.
Investment trends are prioritizing embedded finance over independent finance firms with trillions of dollars in potential revenue on the table.
FinTech Gets an Upgrade—Embedded Finance
Payment models have been adapting over hundreds of years, but embedded FinTech addresses inefficiencies both old and new.
Financial services are becoming more universally available as a growing number of companies include them in their product suite. At the same time these services are simultaneously moving into the background making the process appear even more seamless.
Most companies are expanding their initial product suite to offer things like accounts, debit and credit cards integration, PFM tools, P2P payments, as well as hybrid checking and savings accounts.
As businesses expand globally they are forced to navigate the complexities of making payments in different currencies in addition to adhering to the geographic-specific regulations and varying bank systems—embedded FinTech can simplify these processes.
Embedded payments will turn the person into the payment and transform these simple financial functions into nuanced, data-rich relationships. And the intelligence these relationships provide, employed ethically, will offer more convenience, more revenue, and more innovation opportunities to those that master it. — Alex Reddish, CCO Tribe Payments
The Future is FinTech—DeFi not Sci-Fi
Decentralized finance—or DeFi—is not the industry standard yet because it is currently experiencing such rapid change that its definition is a moving target.
DeFi mostly uses open-source code making it easier for developers to build on previous applications and accelerate innovation. DeFi provides a range of financial services from making payments, lending, borrowing, trading, acquiring insurance, derivatives, and security permutations all performed through a decentralized app—a.k.a. Dapps.
DeFi Dapps connect builders with users to combine their services to the extent that is otherwise not possible in a centralized financial environment.
HUBUC has been recently recognized as a transformer in the market map of BaaS providers in 2021. A type of embedded finance provider that is very similar to the concept described above.
"Transformers are platforms that allow introduction of new technology and business models. Contextually relevant and with a "plug and play" mentality, they are valuable for companies that both would like to extend their current offering and create new financial services.
With HUBUC's low-code integration (that is soon to become no-code) a new neo-bank platform can be build with as little as with 15 lines of code.
A comprehensive guide to the burgeoning Banking-as-a-Service market can be found here.
Benefits of DeFi—Access, Cost-Reduction and Transparency
One of the greatest contributions of DeFi is that it grants access to financial services for anyone with just internet access, opening doors to the 1.7 billion unbanked adult population.
By circumventing banks, third parties, or other intermediaries (all charging various rates) DeFi is also able to reduce costs.
Rates are determined based on factors including whether it was an international transaction, if the card was present, the kinds of products being purchased, and what kind of card was used—credit, debit, or corporate.
DeFi is intentionally more transparent than its centralized financial—also referred to as CeFi—predecessor by enabling anyone to perform an audit.
This allows unprecedented insights on leverage that simply are not offered in CeFi. As a result, DeFi is more secure and trustworthy. DeFi also makes money programmable where it becomes possible to make conditional payments with clear instructions of what that money can be used for.
FinTech brings a significant value to the stack as it adds a layer of familiarity and continuity between businesses and customers in a way that strengthens the relationship.
Banks and investors have historically had a lot of leverage — FinTech helps circumvent these less transparent institutions altogether.
By the Numbers 💲
Embedded payments currently account for 8% of payments made in the market, but that number is expected to rise to an astronomical 40% of all payments in the medium term.
FinTech is expected to add more value to the stack than any of the components that came before it—even more than internet, mobile, and the Cloud combined.
Predictions for embedded financial services—lending, payments, and card products—are promising $230 billion in revenue by 2025, a ten-fold increase from last year alone. The peak of FinTech potential is years off.
Even still, Covid-19 accelerated many FinTech innovations that would have taken years longer without the catalyst event. In the context of a pandemic it seems like a common sense to move toward more sanitary digital payments that are both cashless and cardless.
According to research done by Tribe Payments 40% of industry professionals believe that by 2030 most investment funding will go to the FinTechs that address social and environmental issues or governing challenges.
In the same timeframe, 50% of bank branches in Europe are expected to disappear, making room in the market for the inevitable FinTech takeover.
FinTech is Here to Stay and HUBUC Can Help
If you build FinTech or try to integrate it as a part of your existing business — you don't have to do it alone.
As HUBUC's CEO, Hasan Nawaz, recently said at the South Summit 2021:
"HUBUC operates under three truths: the widest geographical coverage, managed compliance and regulatory risks and the fastest delivery."
(Watch full livestream recording 26:00 min at South Summit 2021)
We can help your business pioneer in FinTech before it becomes mainstream and assist with the task of properly scaling embedded finance. Based on the numbers and revenue potential the decision to incorporate FinTech should be easy.
Harness the power of the customer relationship at every stage of their experience including financing and payment FinTech with guidance from HUBUC today.