What's your total cashback on Google Pay till date? Mine is above Rs. 1500, surprised? Well, that’s how accessible FinTech has become. Wondering what FinTech means? Easy access to financial management through technology via mobiles is what has made all of us tech-savvy in recent years.
Now, let’s jog back our memory a bit to the days when banking or financial transactions majorly took place through cash payments. Then came the debit card or card payments trend which also allowed direct cash withdrawals from banks, without having to physically visit a bank.
In the Web 3.0 age where mobile apps rule the roost, technology has revolutionized how we interact, buy, sell or consume things or goods. So much that, you can choose to get groceries delivered through a mobile app within 10 minutes of ordering it from the comfort of your house.
Data is the new gold
Data rules the world today. Everything – from our buying, banking or shopping habits to what we browse on the Internet on a daily basis – data is captured, scrutinized, analyzed and tailor-made to suit your needs and moods. From a technical data-driven world, the world has shifted to a user-friendly approach where even investments are guided through an app.
So how exactly did financial transactions or personal finance management become so easy? Technology has not just eased manual processes, but it has also automated financial transactions. And, that’s what FinTech is, as we discussed earlier. In simple words, FinTech is tech-based back-end support for financial transactions. Multiple FinTech applications or services are based on data-driven technologies to analyze big data for business growth, consumption, internet browsing habits and effectiveness.
As a consequence of the growth of FinTech, financial literacy among people also scaled massively. With time, the rate of financial literacy is also growing. But, analysts say that there is no direct conversion of the learnings or awareness into action. According to a survey conducted by the “National Centre for Financial Education'' on “Financial Literacy and Inclusion in India” the financial literacy rate is around 27% in the country.
Impact of 5G on Banking
High bandwidth and internet speed along with low latency of 5G will create a great impact on banking services. It will help banks create a high-end user-centric digital service. It will ease accessibility and accelerate all types of transactions and innovations. 5G will further accelerate the growth of fintech geographically. Government initiatives along with progressive activities of telecom companies will make digital transactions more accessible for people in rural areas in the coming years.
Metaverse, creates a virtual world, based on real life. When combined with banking, it will ease the financial transactions’ hurdles. It will let transactions take place virtually. Take the Netflix series “Black Mirror” as an example. Every interaction of characters in this series happens virtually through virtual characters. A real person can choose their virtual “avatar” for personal and commercial use. Similarly, every transaction or interaction results in a person living in the virtual world through smart pods or smart solutions which are driven by AI.
Metaverse: Black-Mirror reality?
Going by how this kind of a Black-Mirror reality is actually materializing in the real world where people recognize each other through their virtual profiles, it sets the tone for the FinTech industry and technology’s growth in the coming years. Coupled with a strong digital literacy base, fintech in India is set to make huge strides with artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, 5G, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR).
Given how Metaverse will eventually include FinTech as a crucial way of humans’ survival mechanism, the fintech industry in India is estimated to generate $200 billion in revenue and $1 trillion in AUM and may compel people into learning about digital financial literacy.
(Author: Alisha Fernandes is an inquisitive learner & content writer at TechDoQuest)