—TechRound does not recommend or endorse any financial, gambling, investment or other advice, practices or operators. All articles are purely informational—
As technology continues to evolve, so does the way we use it. While money used to be handled in a very analogue and slow way, the emergence of the internet, mobile devices, and other technology means that more avenues exist to use money. The global fintech sector is worth billions of dollars at this point, and this has seen many companies enter the space.
These companies, in a bid to attract the most market share, try to outdo each other with different offerings and features. But perhaps the most valuable one is speed.
Speed in Fintech
At its core, fintech refers to all the technological innovations that aid in financial transactions. This could be storing funds, Investments, trade, insurance, and everything in between. These transactions have always existed in some form, but they are being transformed and streamlined by technology.
Think of the way you would need to write a check or physically go to a bank/ATM to send the money to another person. Now, all manner of apps exist that allow you to send money all over the world. The same can be done with insurance, pensions, buying stock, and the like.
But for many consumers, the appeal of fintech is not just its convenience but its speed as well.
Enhancing The Consumer Experience
For many of the online platforms users enjoy, the speed of completing transactions is a major part of the experience. Take online gambling, for example, which has become increasingly popular over the years. One of the first steps to enjoying casino games online is to deposit your funds, and withdraw your wins after.
Because the financial transactions tied to this experience are also crucial, any delay can impact it. A casino taking a long time to deposit your funds means you have to wait longer to play your games. Likewise, a casino taking too long to release your winnings means you simply can’t enjoy the fruits of your efforts. This is why, as new casinos are entering the market, they are emphasizing their speed alongside their other features (Source: CardPlayer).
Meeting Existing Market Standards
As noted, the fintech space has grown over the years, leading companies to fight tooth and nail to secure a bigger share of the market. A major way they are doing this is by upping their speeds. A look at popular fintech platform advertisements will show that they emphasize how quickly they settle transactions.
This means that a financial transaction being completed in minutes, if not seconds, is no longer a major perk but simply an industry standard. As such, anyone looking to succeed in the market has to meet, if not exceed, the standard. Additionally, consumers are much less tolerant of slow transaction speeds from fintech platforms and online businesses overall.
Compatibility With Other Industries
We’ve touched on how the fintech space has a high expectation of speed for the companies that operate within it. But it is also worth noting that even businesses outside of the space have upped their expectations for transaction speed. Think of the e-commerce market, for example.
A typical e-commerce store expects payments to be processed within seconds, whether this is customers buying items or refunds being processed. Because they cannot deal with slow transactions, the fintech service providers they rely on also need to be swift.
Your average e-commerce platform supports a variety of payment methods, and if any such payment begins to dip in transaction speed, it will likely be removed. Outside of direct payments, these businesses cut out across several sectors and need to access fintech resources like loans and insurance. And the faster they are able to access this, the better it is for their own operations.
As such, fintech companies that serve other businesses or even consumers need to keep up their speed so that they can continue to see cross-sector collaboration.
Comparison With Traditional Banking.
While more popular than ever before and certainly sees overlap with the traditional financial world, it is worth noting that it runs semi-parallel to it. Many fintech businesses specifically position themselves as an alternative to traditional banking. These include the likes of neo-banks, blockchain-based solutions and so on.
The road has not been easy for fintech companies, as many consumers still distrust them and would rather opt for traditional financial services. A major edge that fintech companies have over the traditional financial system is speed. For example, neobanks allow customers to open accounts within minutes from the comfort of their homes, and decentralized finance services can offer loans and insurance in record time.
If fintech companies were to lose this speed advantage over traditional financial institutions, they risk being left in the dust. Fintech companies are in a constant race to stay faster than traditional financial institutions lest they lose their Edge.
—TechRound does not recommend or endorse any financial, gambling, investment or other advice, practices or operators. All articles are purely informational—
