Personal finance involves managing income, spending, savings, investing, and protection.
Fintech solutions are revolutionizing the world of personal finance management. They’re helping individuals save time by eliminating paper, automating processes, and facilitating online access to information. They’re also making it easier for people to meet their financial objectives and plan for the future.
Digital Banking
From budgeting and expense monitoring to credit monitoring, fintech is making it easier for consumers to take control of their finances. As a result, traditional banks are adopting these innovations to stay competitive with digital-first challengers.
Millennials, in particular, are partial to online banking services. A 2021 report found that a quarter of millennials now consider their digital-only bank their primary checking account.
These institutions offer an omnichannel experience that allows customers to communicate with their bank through email, social media, or live chat. They also simplify procedures to make them more user-friendly.
In addition, they help their clients streamline their financial management by allowing them to consolidate data from multiple accounts and institutions into one dashboard. This helps them to identify opportunities and risks more quickly. They are also increasingly embracing the potential of open banking initiatives, which allow them to work with third-party providers to provide better financial products and services.
Money Management Apps
Whether checking balances, transferring funds, sending instant payments, or opening accounts, finance technology has made it easier to manage money. These apps are available to people on mobile devices and can help with budgeting, investing, saving, and debt management like Current.
Mobile Payments
Mobile payment systems and peer-to-peer payments are among the most tangible developments from fintech. Using smartphone apps, users can access their banking information and make real-time financial transactions with a simple tap or click.
The same technology can streamline business bill payments by processing the funds overnight and sending them to an organization’s bank account. This makes it easier for landlords, small businesses, and other startups to manage their bills and cash flow.
In the lending world, fintech makes it easier for millions to apply for a loan through online applications and streamlining the credit assessment process. Thanks to new data points and advanced risk models, lenders are expanding access to credit for more people.
Credit Monitoring
Fintech innovations often aim to disrupt or displace existing financial services providers. This is especially true in the credit and payments sectors, where companies take on the role of traditional credit card companies to provide shoppers with immediate, short-term financing for online purchases.
Other fintech innovations, like telematics-based car insurance and automated investment advice (or robo-advisers), offer new ways for consumers to obtain financial products. In these cases, the technology provides a more direct and cost-effective path to services that may otherwise be harder to access, known as financial inclusion.
Despite the connotations of disruptive startups, it’s important to remember that fintech is a broad category that includes technology being applied to financial services by established banks and institutions. Many traditional financial services organizations use fintech to enhance their offerings in fraud monitoring and streamlining accounting processes.
