India 
USA 
Like every other industry sector, the financial landscape is changing remarkably. With constantly evolving technologies, new global regulations, and increased investment, the industry is growing faster than ever. Of all the trends, the introduction of FinTech remains the most prominent, redefining and disrupting financial services and products in the last decade. However, since it is new, there are bound to be little or no understanding of how FinTech works and serves the changing market needs. Like any new revolutionary technology, there are certain expectations, beliefs, and predetermined notions associated with FinTech, thus fuelling many myths and rumors. To be able to understand the mechanisms of FinTech better and exploit its full potential, we must dig deeper and debunk those notions, one myth at a time.
Myth #1: All FinTechs are the same
Fact:
FinTech, by its very definition, is a broad spectrum of things, involving different kinds of programs and applications. But, more often than not, they are categorized under the same head. As mentioned earlier, the finance industry is radically changing and emerging with newer products and services like money transfer, wealth management, lending, payments, to name just a few. And each of these subdomains of finance can make the most out of FinTech applications, designed for the respective function. Hence, they cannot be the same. Like every other technology, no two financial tech tools are designed the same way or can fulfill the same need. So, before you decide to opt for a FinTech solution for your finance business, it is important to explore the others and see what suits your business architecture and meets your and your customer’s needs.
Myth #2: The FinTech industry will squash banking.
Fact:
There is a popular rumor going around that banks and FinTech services are at loggerheads and FinTech will most probably win the battle by bringing the banking system to an end. This is perhaps the biggest misconception surrounding this new technology. FinTech evolved as a natural course of development in the banking process. The technology is rather a catalyst to the banking system to streamline and expedite processes and functions and enhance the customer experience. This fear is very much like that of AI, when it was first introduced, making people believe that it will wipe out human intervention. In reality, it assisted manual functions and enhanced productivity and performance. Similarly, with innovations in FinTech, banking services are only going to evolve and become more efficient and take the sector to the next level.
Myth #3: Fintech is all about money
Fact:
Perhaps the words Finance and Technology together have led people to believe that it has everything to do with money. But it is a myth. Although about 80% of FinTech investments* (global) so far have been in lending and payment systems, it is still not a defining parameter. FinTech’s applications reach way beyond monetary transactions and extend to insurance, fraud detection, investment management, marketing provisioning and so on. FinTech also has immense capability to provide refined data analysis, which is becoming increasingly popular among financial service enterprises.
Myth #4: FinTech comes with a lot of risks
Fact:
Being a digital product, there is a lot of concern regarding the security protocol of FinTech. But that also applies to any digital tool or new technology product. However, if we see beyond the facades, evolved technologies like cloud computing have ample capabilities to keep FinTech secure. Also, as with any other tech innovation, there is a constant effort on managing security issues at every step and addressing threats or probable areas of hacks. With advanced security measures, fraud detection, and better encryption standards, FinTech will soon prove to be a reliable and convenient platform.
Myth #5: Newer regulations can be detrimental to FinTech
Fact:
Most people think that like many new technologies, FinTech is just a ‘bubble’ and with changing economic regulations, it will soon burst. Government regulations are inevitable. But that doesn’t mean it can wipe out an entire system that is being built. FinTech leaders are quite aware of these possibilities and are leaving no stone unturned to partner with the Government and make it an integral part of economic development. Also, in many countries, the Government is actively involved in developing FinTechs and exploiting its potential for better financial services to the citizens.
The world of finance is diverse and can reap a lot of benefits from FinTech if applied right. But only when one understands it well and avoids the myths, can one see the real advantages. With many new trends like dedicated FinTech centers, specialized funding for FinTech companies, AI-powered insights, and growth of predictive analytics, this technology space will only grow bigger and better.
