Research Guides: Finance: FinTech

FinTech Definition

What Is Financial Technology – Fintech?

Financial technology (Fintech) is used to describe new tech that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services. At its core, fintech is utilized to help companies, business owners and consumers better manage their financial operations, processes, and lives by utilizing specialized software and algorithms that are used on computers and, increasingly, smartphones. Fintech, the word, is a combination of "financial technology".

When fintech emerged in the 21st Century, the term was initially applied to the technology employed at the back-end systems of established financial institutions. Since then, however, there has been a shift to more consumer-oriented services and therefore a more consumer-oriented definition. Fintech now includes different sectors and industries such as education, retail banking, fundraising and nonprofit, and investment management to name a few.

Fintech also includes the development and use of crypto-currencies such as bitcoin. While that segment of fintech may see the most headlines, the big money still lies in the traditional global banking industry and its multi-trillion-dollar market capitalization.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Fintech refers to the integration of technology into offerings by financial services companies in order to improve their use and delivery to consumers.
It primarily works by unbundling offerings by such firms and creating new markets for them. Startups disrupt incumbents in the finance industry by expanding financial inclusion and using technology to cut down on operational costs.
Fintech funding is on the rise but regulatory problems abound.

Quoted from:
Kagan, J. (2020, August 27). What Is Financial Technology – Fintech? Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fintech.asp

Financial technology (fintech)

Financial technology, or fintech, is a term used to describe technological advances and changes in the banking and finance industry. It involves new technology, such as smartphone applications, and innovations, like web-only banking and crowdsourcing, that allow people to keep track of their money in ways that differ from traditional banking. Financial technology companies are changing the banking industry by offering wider access to services and products that were once only exclusively available at traditional banks. The fintech revolution is driven by a wave of start-up companies with innovative business and revenue models, and a wider array of products and services than what can be offered at a traditional bank.

Quoted from:
Boone, L. (2020). Financial technology (fintech). Salem Press Encyclopedia.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=ers&AN=119214065&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s8425478

CQ Researcher

Protecting Consumer Finances - CQ Researcher
Born out of the 2007-09 financial crisis when millions of Americans lost their homes due to foreclosures, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been a political lightning rod from the start. Liberals see the agency's core mission as protecting consumers against a sometimes rapacious financial industry. Created in 2010 during the Obama administration, the CFPB began reforming standards for mortgage lenders, debt collectors, payday lenders and others. But conservatives say the CFPB has too much power and lacks accountability, and that its regulatory efforts actually hurt consumers by limiting their ability to get financial help. This debate became more heated during the Trump administration. Under the leadership of Mick Mulvaney, a fierce agency critic, and then Kathy Kraninger, the CFPB scaled back its activities, paused pending enforcement and rule-making efforts and cut its own budget. Consumer advocates and others expect the bureau to become more aggressive when President-elect Joe Biden, who has pledged to hold financial institutions accountable, takes office in January.

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Gale eBooks

Robo-Advisors - Gale eBooks
Robo-advisors are wealth management firms that use software to automatically make investment decisions such as buying and selling securities. Because of this automation, robo-advisors often charge much lower management fees than firms that employ human financial managers to make investment decisions. With this pricing advantage, robo-advisors were rapidly gaining wealth management clients during the mid-2010s, although their total market share was still very small.