Global study says fintech is 'new normal'

Fintech has been described as the “new normal” after research showed that more than half of banking and financial services customers around the world now use the technology on a regular basis.

Fintech, or financial technology, is now at the heart of many everyday transactions. Picture: Contributed

Some 55 per cent of respondents to a survey carried out by financial advisory business deVere Group said that they “regularly use financial technology to access and manage their money”.

Nigel Green, deVere Group founder and chief executive, said: “Even two or three years ago, that figure would have been significantly lower. The fact that today 55 per cent of people polled globally use fintech solutions on a regular basis highlights the staggering rate of the digitalisation of our everyday lives.

“And it is speeding up. From self-driving cars, genetic bio-editing to AI, new technologies are beginning to impact every part of our lives. Our financial lives are no exception. We’re in a new age.”

He added: “Fintech firms are filling the void left between what traditional financial services companies are offering and what customers are now expecting, especially in terms of customer experience.”

Almost 900 people from the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and Australasia took part in the survey. It found that emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa are becoming the biggest growth areas for fintech participation.

Green said: “This could be due to fintech typically offering more inexpensive solutions compared to traditional financial services. Also because these areas are home to many of the world’s 1.7 billion unbanked or underbanked population – those who don’t have access to or have limited access to financial institutions – and fintech allows this issue to be overcome.”

Around two thirds – 67 per cent – of those polled used fintech apps to send remittances and money transfers.