Guest post: Fintech analysts’ five hot predictions for 2020

Stephen Miller

I realized one thing listing to last month’s webinar on fintech analysts’ influence: There is a lot of stuff happening in that industry. One recent study predicted the fintech industry will grow at an annual rate of 24% from 2019 to 2025. If the market size is going to grow at 24%, there must be something big happening in the marketplace, don’t you think?

Many small and big analyst firms are researching the fintech industry and coming out with many predictions. Here are five striking predictions that have come out from industry researchers.

1. From Personalization to Hyper-Personalization

Many of you may have already experienced the power of personalization when you are watching YouTube videos, browsing an online store, and so on. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have played a massive role in personalization.

The advancement in the Big Data technology is expected to turn personalization into hyper-personalization. The financial institutions have a considerable amount of data these days about customers’ browsing and social behaviors. With the help of AI and machine learning in a combination of Big Data, you can expect personalization on an unprecedented scale.

2. Traditional Paycheck to more Flexible Paycheck

Over 50% of the employees in the US have trouble with conventional Paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. Many employees are stressed out because of the money worries and are waiting desperately for a payday. Furthermore, many of those employees are forced to take two weeks’ credit that could charge as high as 400% interest rate.

The Fintech industry is now trying to address these concerns with an introduction of Flexible Pay Feature. It allows the employees to get their cut for the performed works whenever they want. Earnin is a company that is dedicated to enabling Flexible Paycheck, which is now valued at $800 million.

3. Innovation on how we lend money

It is not worth spending time and money for big financial institutions to give their money to individuals and small businesses. They would instead outsource this task to other parties, and Fintech industry players are now ready to capitalize on this opportunity.

The peer-to-peer lending based on mutual terms and conditions is there in the market now. We can expect these services to grow in popularity in developing nations in the times to come, esp in 2020. The popular alternative lending services in developed countries are money orders, car title loans, payday loans, and mortgage loans.

4. Shifting focus from deserved to underserved

Over 1.7 billion people are deprived of financial services in developing and least developed nations. The Fintech startups are now diverting their attention from developed markets to these emerging markets. On top of that, the US freelancers and other part-time workers are making a huge chunk of their income from side hustles and are sending money, paying a hefty fee.  

Uber Money facilitates Uber drivers and other freelancers now to transfer their earnings without paying a lot of fees. The opportunities lie for FinTech industry players to expand their market.

5. FinTech consulting is going to get more popular

Introducing a new product on the market consist of a lot of risks. Many FinTech companies suffer when they end up launching the wrong product on the market. The FinTech consulting firms are expected to play a crucial role in the market full of opportunities to minimize the risk of losses, common mistakes, and to innovate more safely.

Do you want to learn more about analyst firms’ impact on FinTech Industry in 2020?

Industry analyst firms like Gartner, Forrester, Celent, and Aite are hugely influential across the financial technology industry. Where does this influence come from? Which other analyst firms influence financial institutions and fintech investors? How can marketing and communications professionals leverage the benefits of analysts?

Hear a pre-play of the live webinar to find out the answers. Click here to learn more and listen for free.

Stephen Miller is an MBA candidate at Missouri State University, concentrating on finance and operations.

Stephen Miller