HOW TECHNOLOGY IS DISRUPTING FINANCE IN THE FUTURE (July 18, 2018)

The PWC report, “Financial services technology 2020 and beyond: Embracing disruption” identified what PWC called ‘the ten competitive technology-driven influencers for 2020’:

1) FinTech will drive the new business model;

2) The sharing economy will be embedded in every part of the financial system;

3) Blockchain will shake things up;

4) Digital becomes mainstream;

5) “Customer intelligence” will be the most important predictor of revenue growth and profitability;

6) Advances in robotics and AI will start a wave of ‘re-shoring’ and localisation;

7) The public cloud will become the dominant infrastructure model;

8) Cyber-security will be one of the top risks facing financial institutions;

9) Asia will emerge as a key centre of technology-driven innovation; and

10) Regulators will turn to technology, too.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) adds 7 predictions to the mix:

11) A decentralised, global future for payments;

12) Peer-to-peer lending will reduce bank deposits;

13) Crowdfunding threatens today’s intermediaries;

14) Human advisory roles will diminish;

15) Decline in skills a consequence of increased reliance on third parties e.g. FinTech start-ups for risk modelling and data collection;

16) Electronic trading gets riskier; and

17) Greater spread of financial technology.

Meanwhile, Fintech News quotes World Economic Forum study author Jesse McWaters making a final prediction, that banking and insurance is being shaped increasingly by large technology firms supplying critical technology to the sector, and that opens the door to direct competition at a later stage.

“Financial institutions increasingly rely on technology firms for their most strategically sensitive capabilities, but can so far only offer their ongoing business in return,” says McWaters.