Fintech is one of the most exciting areas in the tech and software industry. It’s a revolution that is occurring across the globe, from small startups in Europe to American banking behemoths.
It’s also an especially exciting area for those in software sales, because there are so many hungry prospects out there: according to some estimates, 60% of traditional brick and mortar based banking institutions would team up with a fintech startup, and 82% of these interested banks expect such partnerships to expand in the next few years. Around 85% of banks have made digital transformation a top concern, while 77% of financial institutions in general want to become more innovative.
That all bodes fairly well for software sales reps looking for a dynamic and fast growing area of tech development. Even better, this fintech revolution encompasses all parts of the process, from customer facing support, payments, financial advice, portfolio management, insurance, and lending. Let’s take a look at how Fintech is changing the money game.
Payments
Transferring funds between parties in a transaction is a huge part of banking. But with the explosion of eCommerce and mobile usage in the past decade, payment processing has become even more important. In America, payment processors like PayPal have already been around for a while, though plenty of new competitors like Square and Stripe have entered the fray, competing to provide merchant services for the businesses of proverbial Main Street. But mobile payment software companies are also expanding around the globe as well, and transforming the way monetary exchanges occur in Africa, Asia, and South America, with companies like India’s CashFree and Africa’s PayStack.
Lending
Lending is the biggest way that banks make their money—especially through home loans and business loans. Software has sped up the application process for everything from credit cards to mortgages, and created better forecasting models to help banks make better decisions. It has also helped consumers by pairing them with the best loan option among lenders, given their individualized situation. But one of the most transformational spaces in lending has been the influx of P2P (peer to peer) lending, facilitated through startups like LendingClub, Upstart, and Cabbage. These platforms make it possible for someone in need of a loan to directly connect with a lender, removing the bank as the middleman.
Investing
Not too long ago, getting financial advice for the average retail investor required meeting with a financial advisor or money manager. And while that’s still an option, there are an increasing number of software tools out there for modeling the best approach to investing for consumers. Apps like Acorns do all the work for an investor behind the scenes, allowing them to select investment options ranging from conservative to aggressive. For more experienced investors with a hands-on approach, softwares like VantagePoint and TrendSpider make it possible to analyze market movements and forecast trends. But financial advising software has not eliminated the involvement of traditional advisors. In fact, it has made life easier for many of them, with analytical tools like the aptly named MoneyGuidePro and MoneyTree that can assist with insight-driven portfolio management.
Customer Interactions
Speaking of financial advising, it’s very much like sales. You have to prospect clients, sell your services, and perform routine maintenance on their portfolio. That all becomes much easier with the range of CRM and ERM software available for financial advisors. Traditional banks have also benefited from the influx of fintech to improve customer experience with multiple messaging channels, apps, chatbots, and other relationship-building tools. Banks now offer consumer clients detailed breakdowns and pie charts of spending habits, along with tailored product and investment recommendations, creating a seamless experience fueled by software development.
Cryptocurrency
We’d be remiss to avoid mentioning one of the hottest and most recent areas of fintech, which is in crypto and blockchain. Digital currency has disrupted the banking world, and big banks like JP Morgan Chase are rolling out their own cryptocurrencies. The race to integrate digital currency into traditional banking services is underway, and software and tech are certainly fueling this race. Software for encryption, payment processing, trading, and mining will all become increasingly relevant as cryptocurrency usage enters consumer markets—and as it becomes a normal mode of transaction between businesses. incidentally, the idea of blockchain (that is, financial record keeping with a decentralized ledger) will have huge implications for data storage in all industries.
A Final Word about Fintech and Software Sales
These are just a few of the areas in finance where software and tech are changing the game. They always say that money makes the world go round, but as finance enters the 21st century, it will be software that makes the globe spin. Software sales professionals who are looking for a dynamic industry with lots of opportunities should explore their options in fintech. As a software sales headhunter with almost four decades of experience, I can help job seekers find their next role in software sales, and help employers locate the best talent. Whether you’re interested in fintech or some other area of software, let’s connect! Send me an email at mike@michaelblair.com and let’s discuss your future in software sales.