The fast-growing FinTech industry perfectly exemplifies innovation and “thinking outside the box”. It not only expands the reach of financial services, but also lowers the cost of financial transactions, and helps increase financial inclusion. And in an ever-expanding cybersecurity landscape, digital models enable FinTechs to protect their customers’ data, empowering them to carry out transactions with ease and without worry. In short, FinTech is one of the few sectors that perfectly encapsulates what the late, great Clayton M. Christensen called “disruptive technology”.
One of the key technologies that make FinTech such a disruptive and world-changing force is the cloud. Over the past decade, cloud computing in FinTech has matured considerably as more and more FinTech orgs turn to the cloud for their growing storage and computing needs.
Cloud adoption is transforming FinTech. Here are 5 ways how!
Greater Computing Power for Faster Innovation
The cloud provides a virtual center for many new technologies like Big Data and IoT to help improve connectivity and enable organizations to extract more value from their information infrastructure. It also provides near-infinite computing power, enabling all kinds of advanced technologies that support greater innovation, such as VR (virtual reality), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Conversational AI.Foster Open, Mutually-beneficial Partnerships
The idea of open partnership ecosystems has been growing steadily over the past few years, particularly in FinTech. Many firms are realizing the value of collaborating to accelerate innovation and improve their offerings. Cloud technology makes information exchange faster, more transparent, and more secure. This enables the growth of strong partner ecosystems that benefit both FinTech firms and their customers.Meet Customers’ and Regulators’ Changing Demands
In the digital era, customers are demanding new solutions delivered faster, and in more accessible formats. From online loan management and cashless transactions to digital payments and contactless remittances – Fin Techs are in a good position to deliver these services by adapting to the digital financial landscape. And the cloud makes this possible.
According to PwC, FinTech firms tend to develop and innovate fast, fail fast, and learn fast. But in this scenario, they must consider regulatory constraints, and ensure that they meet all requirements related to customer data processing and use. They must also plan for contingencies, and minimize downtime and other risks – which the cloud and its ability to support business continuity planning and data recovery enable them to do.
Achieve Economies of Scale and Cost-effectiveness
Traditional or “legacy” financial models are not usually built to scale, making it harder for many borrowers to access finance. FinTech companies boast lean, “zero CAPEX” operating models designed to simplify processes, cut costs, and increase the reach of financial services.
Legacy systems also lack flexibility and agility – key drivers of business success today – because most of their operations are manual rather than automated. Cloud-based mechanisms however differentiate FinTech models from traditional models to provide better solutions and services to a greater pool of customers. This is why 75% of customers are satisfied with FinTech digital services, compared to just 64% for traditional banks.
Data Management, Portability, and Security
In the current business landscape, data, if properly collected, analyzed, and stored, can make the difference between business success and failure. A strategic hybrid cloud approach enables FinTechs to minimize worries over data portability and security. With a private cloud, they can safely house critical applications and data while taking full advantage of the scalability and cost-savings available with the public cloud’s expansive data infrastructure.
They can also leverage Big Data and Machine Learning to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of financial transactions, understand customer portfolios, preferences, and history, and even detect potential fraud or money laundering.