Fintech and Blockchain

What is fintech?

Fintech (financial technology) is the umbrella term used for innovations in the financial technology space, and includes the organizations and services that provide financial services to consumers using these technologies.³ Growing at a rapid speed, fintech has affected nearly every area of global finance, and continues to evolve.⁴

Banking executives have ranked the following traditional banking services by how much they've been impacted by fintech innovations:⁵

• Wallets and mobile payments (67 percent)
• Cards and other traditional payments (63 percent)
• Savings and checking accounts (33 percent)
• Value-added services, loans/mortgages, and wealth- and asset-management services (a combined average of 17 percent)

Traditional financial institutions initially greeted the prediction that fintech would reinvent their industry with skepticism.⁶ However, since 2010, close to $100 billion has been invested in fintech ventures.⁷ The UK’s fintech industry reached a record-high investment value of more than $16 billion in the first half of 2018, with the rest of the world accumulating a total investment value of $57.9 billion.⁸ The first half of 2019 was even stronger, with UK fintech investment rising 63 percent to $6.3 billion, and the U.S. drawing $26.1 billion in investments, a jump of 53 percent.⁹ Globally, fintech investments reached $73.5 billion in the first three quarters of the same year.¹⁰

Fintech offers many cost-saving solutions, which means more financial organizations are looking for ways to include the related technologies in their operations and ecosystems.¹¹ New ideas in financial services, such as peer-to-peer lending and crowd-funding, are also putting pressure on established institutions to keep up, forcing them to embrace fintech solutions to improve their offerings.¹²

Fintech is now also spawning fintech, with start-ups in the U.S. providing suites of application programming interfaces (APIs) to other companies. These businesses can then use the APIs to build their own banking and payment products (this is known as banking-as-a-Service or BaaS).¹³ In Europe, fintech activity has been accelerated by government-led regulatory changes, enabling start-ups to venture beyond their borders into new territories, including North America.¹⁴

As far as trends in fintech go, start-ups in the financial technology space have begun to move outside of their initial boutique offering to operate at scale,¹⁵ with new regions such as South America and Africa emerging.¹⁶ Many organizations are also reimagining every aspect of their businesses, from products and services to front-end systems and back-end processes, right through to business transformation efforts inspired and supported by fintech.¹⁷

What is blockchain?

A blockchain is a mechanism by which a ledger that stores transactions is made. The transactional data is then made available for relevant parties to engage with, view, and audit.¹⁸ Distributed ledger technology (DLT), of which blockchain is a part of, copies the ledger to several computers, or nodes.¹⁹ Consequently, the ledger is maintained by each node, which independently updates it when data changes occur.²⁰

Because blockchain is decentralized, and forgoes the need for a single authority to manage operations, strict security protocols that are built on computational trust are in place. Every copy of the ledger is updated whenever anyone adds a new transaction, and all transactions are encrypted before they’re added to the ledger.²¹

Blockchain technology only allows transactions to be added; no provision is made for altering or deleting a transaction. This makes blockchain one of the most transparent technologies, which means that it’s particularly well-suited to the finance industry.

What are the applications of blockchain?

Blockchain technology continues to provide solutions to a range of everyday problems. Monitoring and controlling fraud in supply chains, increasing transparency at the polls through digital voting, efficient asset management, faster banking, and less paperwork and more automation in real estate and claims processing, are a few examples.²² Other applications include:

• Supply chains. Blockchain technology is able to track and trace damaged or spoiled goods, which increases visibility and accountability, and reduces waste and loss from product-wide recalls.²³ In order for maximum back-office efficiency to be reached, the entire supply chain must include automated inputs in the blockchain network
• Transportation and logistics. With the potential to consolidate and improve the fragmented systems, manual processes, and outdated IT architecture so typically found in the transportation and logistics industry, blockchain can be used to streamline receivable collections and payments by removing the need for a middleman. Consequently, it can also reduce the number of middleman-related disputes²⁴
• Smart contracts. Typically used to enforce an agreement between collaborating parties, smart contracts are lines of code stored on a blockchain that execute automatically when certain predetermined criteria are met. All parties are assured of a desired outcome, and the contract removes the need for an intermediary.²⁵

How blockchain technology will change business

Blockchain technology is poised to play a significant role in disrupting existing business models and processes. While traditional methods of conducting business will be disrupted, blockchain-based solutions will also present plenty of opportunities for organizations that are able to adapt and innovate. Some key ways that blockchain technology is already being used include:²⁶²⁷

1. Better storage and data management. Blockchain technology allows for confidential data, including social security numbers, to be stored and shared securely. Its decentralized nature also protects against malicious attacks that target a single system.
2. Unprecedented transparency. By providing entire networks with access to the same information in real time, blockchain technology is able to reduce processing times and eliminates the need for reconciliation between multiple parties.
3. Increased security. Blockchain technology’s strong cryptography and decentralized nature make it hard for data to be altered or hacked.
4. Improved efficiency. This technology has the potential to streamline business processes and reduce operational costs by automating back-office functions.

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What is cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency, or entry in a database, that acts as a medium of exchange, using encryption technology to verify transactions and keep them secure.²⁸ The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) of Germany defines cryptocurrencies as financial instruments that are “digital representations of value.” Cryptocurrencies share the following characteristics:²⁹

• They are not issued or managed by any central financial institute or public body
• They are not legally classified as currency or money
• They can be used as payment by individuals or legal entities
• They can be used for investment purposes
• They can be traded, transmitted, and stored electronically

Distributed ledger technologies, or DLT as explained above, is still in its infancy, with relatively few organizations at a state of readiness and maturity to successfully leverage its potential.³⁰ However, according to the World Bank, DLT has the potential to improve efficiencies in financial operations, reduce transaction costs, and provide finance solutions to the unbanked market segment.³¹

Tokenization, a popular concept in the cryptocurrency space, involves the process of converting material objects into digital assets.³² There are three types of tokens:

1. Currency tokens are classic cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, that don’t get their value from assets, but from the distribution ledger itself. They’re therefore constructed on their own independent blockchains.
2. Utility tokens are a means to fund start-ups on the premise of gaining future access to a product or service, once developed.
3. Security tokens behave the same as typical financial investments.

Cryptocurrencies have attracted widespread market attention in the past, leading to Nasdaq listing crypto index funds,³³ governments from countries like France prioritizing crypto regulations to stabilize the sector,³⁴ and Facebook’s development of its own cryptocurrency, Libra, for digital payments via its messaging platforms.³⁵ However, it’s the underlying blockchain technology that made all of this possible.³⁶ Although it’s unlikely that blockchain will completely alter the world’s payment systems, many financial institutions are becoming more open to the value of blockchain technology and its potential to reshape the way business is conducted.

Market growth in fintech and blockchain

The fintech and blockchain markets are increasing in size, market activity, and potential business opportunities. Here are a few examples:

• In 2019, approximately 37 percent of global financial services institutions said they had a market-ready fintech product or service³⁷
• Investment in fintech companies is growing, combining venture capital (VC), private equity, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A)³⁸
• At the end of 2019, the most in-demand fintech services were money transfers and payments, followed by insurance, wealth management, and borrowing³⁹
• Nonfinancial players are on the rise in this space, with 68 percent of organizations citing willingness to consider a financial proposition by a nonfinancial company⁴⁰
• Even though the cryptocurrency market has slowed down slightly, the number of VC-backed blockchain deals held steady from 822 in 2018 to 807 in 2019⁴¹

GetSmarter’s learning model is flexible, personalized and well-supported, and makes upskilling or reskilling practical, attainable, and enjoyable.

Fintech and blockchain are fast-moving fields, and a university-backed online short course will help you gain an understanding of the underlying principles of each. GetSmarter’s learning model is flexible, personalized and well-supported, and makes upskilling or reskilling practical, attainable, and enjoyable. Learn the fundamentals of fintech, cryptocurrency and blockchain, and develop strategies on how to adopt these technologies in the workplace. Discover how to take advantage of the business opportunities presented by these disruptive technologies, and increase your knowledge of trends in the industry to remain a step ahead of the curve.

Sources

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²Dughi, P. (Feb, 2018). ‘A simple explanation of how blockchain works’. Retrieved from Median.
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⁴Robinson, E. et al. (Nov, 2018). ‘Quicktake: fintech’. Retrieved from Bloomberg.
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