The FinTech100 is an extensive annual report created by KPMG and H2 Ventures, showcasing the industry trends and innovative global companies in FinTech that are driving the most disruption through technology.  The 2018 FinTech100 was released earlier this month and marks the fifth edition of the report (going back to 2013), which continues to discuss indicators of change, and potential strategic opportunities for growth.

The biggest catalyst for the birth of today’s cryptocurrencies came from a 9-page white paper published by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym name for an anonymous person or group, in October 2008.

Fintech continues to evolve as customers now trust these digital-only companies more than ever, slowly migrating deposit balances and other assets away from banks and traditional institutions. If you're an individual interested in investing, working for, or building the next great fintech, here are four areas to examine closely:

Western Union and Moneygram are widely known names in the payments sector of finance. As technology rapidly disrupted financial services over the last 20 years, FinTech (financial technology) companies have emerged globally to provide a simple, low-cost alternative to well-established agencies.

Large financial institutions are full of legacy systems and mounds of regulatory risk, making it difficult to implement blockchain, an emerging technology with multiple benefits capable of enhancing industries and companies that heavily rely on transactions and record keeping.

When fintechs first popped up a few years ago, these startups had a goal of disrupting and displacing banks in the world of financial services.  Banks stood their ground and made small reactive changes, but kept systems and processes mostly the same.  The relationship between these rivals has dramatically changed, with both fintechs and banks now working closely together to impact the future of finance.

Millennials embrace technology, growing up in the age of internet and smartphones apps.  Fintech, the connection between finance and technology, has greatly benefited from millennials' quick adoption rates, representing the highest usage by any age group.  Despite older generations having a higher net worth and increasing their own daily tech usage, the fintech community as a whole has ignored their specialized needs.  2018 is the year that the industry will venture beyond millennials to baby boomers and Gen Xers that have complex financial goals, in order to disrupt traditional wealth management.

As fintechs expand their core offerings towards becoming digital banks, the challenge of customer loyalty in a digital-only, non-customer facing environment becomes paramount. With only a simple download and a few screen taps needed to switch banks - - how do these companies build a loyal community of primary customers?

Blockchain is becoming widely known as the next big innovative technology, impacting the future of how we do business. The issue faced today is that the answer blockchain provides is still searching for problems to solve that customers are willing to pay for. Which problems will be most realistic and profitable to solve for blockchain?

There is no slowing down fintech as it continues to disrupt traditional financial institutions and processes with innovative technology and enhanced user experiences.  The next level of disruptive technology to be applied by fintechs is AI (artificial intelligence).

After years of investment in digital transformation, the top US banks have actually started to pull away with market share while smaller regional banks are left behind, based on a study by Accenture of US banks, in reference to core banking systems, back-office processes, and workforce development.

The tech giant, Google, is making movements in the blockchain space and looking to stay ahead of the competition with developments in its cloud systems.  As another tech giant, Facebook, has come under huge scrutiny for its mishandling of private information, blockchain offers enhanced security of information on this distributed ledger platform, highly benefiting Google and users globally.

With a $1B initial offering, CommerceBlock is becoming the first company going public with a blockchain solution.  

#fintech #blockchain 

Small Business Adopting the Latest Fintech 

- Paying with facial recognition, known as FacePay, is being piloted as a payment solution.  This isn’t part of the movie “Minority Report” with Tom Cruise, but something that may be coming to a vending machine or kiosk near you.

#fintech

Fintechs have a bigger rival in retail banking disruption

#fintech #disruptor