The fintech industry has bloomed magnificently in our recent past. Fintech’s permeation into different industries and sectors has fueled its engines to run faster and to explore broader horizons. Fintech provides simpler alternatives to traditional processes, like online payments, clearing the way for colossal transformations.

The first fintech-related transactions were initiated by the advent of credit cards, which happened several years ago. Then, the term fintech was nowhere in the picture. Today’s global landscape has fintech’s position painted in bright unmissable colors. With banks, financial institutions, and countless businesses becoming a part of the fintech revolution, there is little doubt that fintech is gradually acquiring more power and control over the global economy.

The two industries other than the financial and banking industries that have had the most impact are retail and consumer electronics. 

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Fintech in Retail

Fintech’s contributions to the retail sector have been enormous. With fintech entering the picture, the landscape and structuring of the retail industry have changed brilliantly. E-commerce has diversified, enabling more power and control for consumers to decide how and where to spend their money.

Several factors have contributed to the successful convergence of fintech and retail, such as:

• E-commerce

In today’s digital age, numberless e-commerce platforms have created an online marketplace for everything under the sky. From banking to groceries, movies, and even education, the online market has become an unimaginable cloud of possibilities.

The growth of e-commerce has been one of the prime reasons for retail expansion. Companies like Amazon, Shopify, eBay, and the likes, have transformed the shopping habits of people. Fintech has been an integral component in accelerating the pace of retail growth.

• Online Payments

Digital payments have universally simplified our shopping options and activities. E-payments have been the ace in fintech’s game set, enabling it to spread its reach to wider horizons. Small and large businesses and individual merchants have rapidly absorbed digitalization into their systems, propelling fintech’s growth further. Fintech has changed the way people shop by bringing e-wallets, virtual cards, tap-and-go services, QR codes, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options, and more. 

• Customer Experience

Fintech’s growth owes tremendously to people’s focus on improving customer experience. By engaging in more customer-related activities, and consumer-focused services, fintech has found an invaluable pool of opportunities that have helped it balloon so magnificently. 

Regardless of industry, everyone is attempting to solve customer issues like never before, owing to which personalization has emerged as the key deciding factor for improved customer experience. Consumers are now rightfully expecting personalized benefits crafted especially for them. Personalization has sealed the destinies of fintech and retail together by bringing in opportunities for fintech to aid the retail sector’s growth further.

• Cryptocurrency

The newest augmentation in retail has been cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The crypto market has been flooded with new explorers and miners to invest in this new futuristic currency. The prominence of cryptocurrencies has grown enough to become an additional e-payment option for big purchases. Many businesses are now accepting payments in cryptocurrencies, promoting the ever-growing expanse of fintech. 

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Fintech in Consumer Electronics

Another sector that has been enormously but positively affected by fintech’s emergence is consumer electronics. The upsurge of fintech can be directly associated with the growth of consumer electronics, the most disruptive technology being smartphones. 

Smartphones have caused an upheaval in our daily lives. The global smartphone market has increased by 50% in the last four years. More than 80% of the population owns or uses smartphones in the digital age, increasing the number of users to 6.5 billion. The smartphone market is expected to grow further in the coming years. 

Fintech’s association with smartphones is common knowledge. Whether it was the increasing adoption of smartphones globally that led to the upthrust of fintech’s trajectory, or vice-versa, both these industries have benefitted immensely from their counterpart’s growth. Fintech has become a default option for smartphone users now. 

With smartphones, digital payments, online banking, remittances, eKYCs, and much more have become possible, resulting in the ballooned demand for fintech services. The e-commerce market has flourished owing to the conjunction of fintech and smartphones. Much of fintech’s disruption has stemmed from the increased adoption of smartphones. 

While smartphones have had the most impact on fintech, other electronic devices such as laptops, desktops, smart speakers, and other home utility devices have also gained tremendous ground. The embracement of such digital devices by the masses has ushered in more opportunities for fintech. Purchasing subscriptions and utility items through voice command on smart speakers, conducting international payments, or investments in cryptocurrencies, etc., have become common augmentations, providing better control and more choices for consumers. 

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The Bottom Line

Fintech has been pivotal in bringing rapid changes in the traditional global systems. Generation Z and the Millenials have contributed immensely to setting the momentum for innovation. E-commerce platforms, online payments, blockchain technologies, etc., are actively being absorbed into the system by these two generations that have had the most interaction with advanced technology. The retail and consumer electronics industries have expanded in diversity and numbers because of their integration with fintech; their interdependency assures us of their bright future.

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The evolution of the fintech industry has witnessed dramatic changes in the last couple of years. The majority of the people across the globe have come to terms with fintech’s growing contribution and share in the global economy. Mobile payments through digital platforms, online KYC (Know Your Customer), easy cross-border transactions, quick loans, and credits have become the new normal in our daily lives now. The fintech industry’s efficiency and practicality are now pervading several other sectors by creating integrated solutions together, for example, online food ordering is now massively supplemented by fintech across the globe.

Today’s article will discuss fintech’s role in agriculture, retail, and consumer electronics.

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Fintech and Agriculture

The agricultural sector is an essential but underdeveloped part of the global economy. While developed nations have already explored and employed mechanized solutions to increase productivity and decrease labor dependency, developing countries are yet to reach that position. Agriculture is an indispensable part of all economies, as it is an essential sector for life sustenance. 

However, with the rise in prices due to inflation and the ever-increasing global demands for food due to population growth, the agricultural sector has faced many serious challenges. These challenges have given rise to many opportunities for streamlining and improving the productivity and efficiency of this sector. 

Fintech’s role in the agricultural sector has helped improve the sector’s plight substantially, by digitizing several aspects and transferring more control to the key participants of the industry, the farmers. 

Some of the ways in which fintech has resolved issues in the agricultural industry are:

• Credit & Insurance

Financing is one of the key players in the agricultural setup. The majority of farmers in the world rely on credit, microfinance, and subsidies from financial institutions and governments. The farming sector is laden with risks stemming from weather changes, which makes significant investments incongruous with the investors and credit providers.

By digitizing such a process through fintech, both financial institutions and farmers have gained more control and relief than before. Online banking, easy insurance policies specifically for agricultural equipment and harvest, simple onboarding and eKYC processes, platforms to connect farmers directly with consumers, etc., have started a revolution that could bring immense changes to the agricultural industry. 

• Asset Registries and Receipts

Along with credit and microfinancing, there is a growing requirement for mechanization of the processes involved in the production and harvest of crops and produce. Countless new and innovative machinery and equipment are reaching the global market to supplement the processes involved in farming. Fintech has been instrumental in providing simpler methods for asset registries and receiving warehouse receipts, making the entire system more secure for farmers. 

• Financial Literacy

Several fintech platforms target increasing the financial literacy of farmers and other participants. By doing so, farmers would be in a better position to make more informed decisions, which would help make the overall system more efficient. 

• Financial Inclusion

In developing countries such as India, Indonesia, the Phillippines, Cambodia, etc., a large population remains unbanked or underbanked. Most of this population resides in rural regions away from city amenities, like private banking. Fintech, in the past few years, has percolated to these regions to provide basic banking and payment facilities, which otherwise could only be carried out through government offices and banks. Such facilities have made it easier for small farmers to be a part of the social system, avail of subsidies, apply for and receive credit and financing, and conduct other activities which would eventually empower them.

• Food Wastage

Food wastage remains one of the biggest problems of the modern world. Fintech and digitization have also helped tackle food wastage and storage issues globally. By creating platforms that advise and share information about food production, transport cost, and the market, and applications that connect farmers with consumers directly, food wastage has been reduced substantially, enabling a more efficient system. 

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To Conclude

 Fintech has actively contributed to creating integrated solutions with different industries. In the present age, fintech is not solely about payments and online banking but much more. We are yet to realize its enormous potential as technological developments favor creativity and innovation, making way for more opportunities perpetually. Such advances in the global setup have proven to massively transform traditional functions, lifestyles, and more through their power.

 With fintech integrating with the farming sector, many issues have found resolutions, and countless more problems are tackled constantly with such shared solutions. The agricultural industry is undergoing an independent transformation with digital machinery, less labor-intensive, and more mechanized equipment and processes, making way for more fintech opportunities, in the process. Fintech has the power to supplement enormous leaps, and that is exactly, what the farming sector needs.

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The rise and evolution of fintech have been met with a warm welcome across the globe for fintech’s extensively high-value propositions. Fintech has been doing rounds for many years now, but the rapid developments in fintech have become apparent only in the last few years. Technological developments have always been viewed as lucrative settlements in all industries. The lucrative factor exploded with the convergence of the financial and technology sectors, resulting in uncountable opportunities.

This article highlights some of the most influential factors that have contributed to the strengthening and expansion of the fintech industry that has robustly disrupted conventional banking and financial practices. 

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Digitalization of Financial Services

Fintech is the confluence of finance and technology, where technology supplements financial activities. The digitalization of financial services proved beneficial on multiple fronts. Many possibilities like better control of monetary decisions, faster and more efficient processes, better storage facilities, quick data processing, and uncountable advantages have become evident with financial digitalization. The technological development of financial services took place rapidly, as multiple services or processes could now get managed through a single portal. Such robustness incentivized more technological transformation. The wave of fintech was not restricted to national boundaries, as technology allowed faster, safer, and more efficient cross-border transactions, giving rise to even more opportunities for digital financial services. 

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Capital Investments

The rate of venture capital investments is record-breaking high year on year in the fintech industry. With investors pouring in from all corners of the world, companies and organizations, especially, small and medium businesses, have had the opportunity to take the leap of faith and get onboard the ship to innovation. Access to capital has been facilitated by technology, bringing in more inclusivity, especially for women, minorities, and also the unbanked. 

Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer lending have played a tremendous role in setting the course for more successful fintech organizations. In 2020, companies managed to raise almost $480 billion through P2P alone. P2P has proven beneficial, especially for people with bad credit history, making it a more likable option when compared to bank loans. Financing for small and medium enterprises through fintech has become much simpler, further leading to the explosion of fintechs. 

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Regional advantages

As the financial sector is sensitive to all activities, regulatory standards and compliances have always been its critical segment. With the changing dynamics of fintech, the regulations associated with fintech firms in one region cannot entirely be the same for firms in other areas. Such regional differences in standard regulations and compliances have prompted the rise of fintech hubs, where there are similar regulations across a limited area, making the entry of firms located outside that location more difficult. 

The fintech hub in the UK is the leading example of this. The regulations across the European Union are similar across the entire region, which has evoked the emergence of countless fintech organizations, some of which are now world leaders in the industry, like Revolut.

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Avant Garde Technology 

A key reason for the robust expansion of fintech is the employment of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain technologies, etc. Implementation of such advanced technologies has powered the system immensely, ensuring that the pathways established in the past few years, would take the global economy and its systems forward. Innovative technology that facilitates traditional functions and supplements additional services, like data management and analysis, faster processing, etc., has become the new normal for the digital world.

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Focus on Customer Needs and Experience

One of the chief reasons for the growth of fintech opportunities is the focus on enhancing a better and more efficient customer experience. There has been a paradigm shift stemming from end-users, instead of service providers, because of the rise in fintech. In the past, the financial services and products offered by financial institutions and banks depended more on the providers than the customers. In today’s world, the focus has shifted to the end-user, changing the course of the ideologies and concepts surrounding financial services. Faster processes, better control in the hands of customers, lesser ambiguity, quicker loans, etc., are all part of this transformation that has originated from the consumer’s front.

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The Pandemic 

Lastly, although fintech has been rapidly growing its prominence globally for many years now, it was only during the pandemic that its strength and glory became apparent because of the sudden need for alternative options for the masses. Governments worldwide turned to technologically backed startups providing financial services to ensure the continued running of their economies. Contactless payments, online banking, international remittances, virtual cards, and other fintech augmentations took over the ground because conventional methods needed to be scrapped.  

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Final Words

Technology’s resilience has been probed time and again by subjecting it to stricter environments. We have witnessed its success in all industries, and its confluence with the financial world has been no different. Fintech has indeed emerged as a winning industry. As more people join hands with fintech, it leaves little room for any doubts about its mass success in the future years. Our future is already deeply integrated with fintech’s benefits, and we shall see the heights it would reach, with time. 

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A one-stop platform that offers multiple services gives an app the “Super” status. Super apps have been a part of many discussions that have stemmed from the feasibility and practicality of super apps compared to single-service provider apps. The majority of the super apps that have long been in existence started as single-service providers.

The Chinese app “WeChat” started as an online messaging platform that allows people to connect, chat on its digital platform, make voice and video calls, share media, etc. The app then augmented features like ride-hailing, scheduling pickups, grocery shopping, and much more. Today, WeChat is one of the most powerful super apps dominating the Chinese market. 

Many other super apps have shown a similar trajectory, like Uber, which is now branching out from its primary service of taxi pickups and drops to online food shopping, cars, bikes, and scooter rentals. Uber is currently planning to add grocery shopping as one of its services in some of its markets. 

The advent of super apps wasn’t an entirely new concept as it is a conventional expansion strategy with physical organizations also prevalent everywhere. Super apps follow the same steps in a digital space where they expand their operations into new service areas, markets, customer segments, and more, to grow. 

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Super Apps and Fintech

One of the most enthralling aspects of super apps has been their nature to pivot towards fintech. Most super apps leading in different global markets started in distinct service sectors and almost mandatorily augmented fintech to their portfolio. The applicability and relevance of fintech could not have been more pronounced than what we see with super apps. Organizations all over the world are transcending into digital spaces, where fintech is the most demanded augmentation.  

Top-rated Super Apps in the World

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Alipay 

With more than a billion users, Alipay has now become the largest digital payments application. Owned by the Ant Group, China, the app offers a multitude of services like digital payments, e-wallets, taxi services, online food ordering, remittances, insurance schemes, hotel bookings, and much more. Alipay is also one of the prime examples of where payment applications have put gamification strategies to good use by providing heavy discounts, points, and rewards.

Grab

Launched almost ten years ago, Grab is now known as the largest super app in Southeast Asia, to offer multiple services on its platform, like taxi services, e-payments, hotel bookings, online food ordering, grocery shopping, video streaming, and more. What started as an app dedicated to taxi services has now grown multifold to include multiple categories of services under its umbrella. Several factors that have helped Grab achieve a leading position are its elaborate network of delivery partners, its focus on UX/UI (user experience/user interface) on the app, its strategic expansion into different service areas, etc. 

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Gojek

Gojek is an Indonesian super app that has now spread its services beyond the Indonesian boundaries to neighboring countries, like the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, etc. Gojek is Indonesia’s first unicorn that also found a place in the 2019 Fortune’s 50 list. It offers services across several categories like taxi services, e-payments, online food ordering, grocery shopping, etc. Because of its stellar performance and breakthrough strategies, several professionals have analyzed and assessed Gojek’s journey and business strategies, to use as blueprints in planning new super apps. 

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OMNi

Founded in 2019 in Costa Rica, OMNi has become one of the most successful super apps known to the world. With a wide array of functionalities, like bike sharing, fintech, and healthcare services, this super app aims to equip its users with better control and efficient services in these mainstream industries. Its e-wallet and e-payment services have received immense praise. Having established its presence across Central America, OMNi is currently also planning to expand its operations to Southeast Asia. Although, with Gojek and Grab already winning the Southeast Asian market, OMNi’s entry would need well-thought strategies to enable it to cater to an area that excels in super apps. 

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The Future of Super Apps

Super apps have been the thing of the East. Asian countries like Singapore, Indonesia, India, Thailand, the Phillippines, and others have already proven their metal in building super apps. There is a tremendous cloud of opportunities for the super app market that fintech can supplement. In the past few years, there has been massive development on the technological front, but it doesn’t mean that we’re nearing the end of the road of advancements and innovations. 

Super apps have the power to change the dynamics of the current setup by merging several services into one platform. Companies like Square, PayPal, and the likes have already acquired a higher share of the global economy than behemoths like Facebook, Apple, and Google in fintech with their super apps. It is only a matter of time before more opportunities unfold, and we see numerous other organizations taking longer leaps in the development of this industry.

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Fintech has had an explosive growth trajectory in the past few years that has disrupted the existing financial system and deeply influenced the business world. While consumer fintech has stolen the limelight owing to a large number of participants, business-to-business (B2B) fintech is also robustly catching pace with numerous B2B fintech operators and providers emerging globally.

With challenger banks, e-payment platforms, cross-border remittance gateways, etc., becoming the new normal among the masses, there’s little space left for doubts about the scope and control fintech has on the world. As more organizations are spiraling towards fintech, more business opportunities are opening up.

B2B fintech is one such stream of this new-age digitalized world, where fintech firms are creating products and offering services to supplement and cater to business organizations. Although the pace of digitalization has only been invigorated recently, fintech has been a part of the world for quite a few years now, and so has B2B fintech.

Fintech has gained popularity and reaches in phases, just like the internet, where Web 1.0 – the read-only format, was introduced to us in the ’80s. Today, people are relentlessly working on shaping the third phase of the internet, Web 3.0, as the future.

B2C and B2B fintech have followed a similar path of evolution and intent. From 2020 till now, B2B fintech has evolved remarkably and is already treading towards owning a substantial market share. So, the question remains, what is B2B Fintech

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B2B Fintech

Over the past 20 years, there has been immense growth in the B2B sector in several industries. Fintech, in particular, has witnessed outstanding developments with companies like Paypal, Square, Afterpay, and many more, emerging as global leaders providing business-focused services and products to help facilitate business operations.

Paypal is one of the oldest and most successful fintech firms in the world that has brought tremendous relief to consumers and businesses alike with its strategic B2B2C structure. By providing embedded point-of-sale payment options and enabling customers to make seamless transactions directly with merchants, Paypal initiated the financial disruption where all kinds of payments were either conducted through cash or the banking system. Paypal provides a platform for companies and merchants to set up accounts that allow them to receive payments from domestic and international customers without any hassles. With a market valuation of over $230 billion, Paypal has become one of the biggest names in the world of fintech.

B2B fintech started with laying focus on two pillars: banking-as-a-service (BaaS) and payments. After the emergence of many companies developing services and products surrounding these two branches, B2B fintech got churned into an opportunity-laden bucket that redirected its focus on more sectors, like lending, insurance, commercial infrastructure for companies, and software-as-a-service, etc.

Today, numerous B2B services exist in the fintech industry that aims to facilitate easier business operations like RegTech, compliance, cyber security, fraud detection, and many more.

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Fintech Services in B2B

Out of the uncountable new developments that have proven to be very rewarding in the B2B fintech spectrum, the following have been the most popular:

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Cross-border Remittances

Because of the massive reach of the internet, global connections have improved extensively, giving way to more business opportunities. Cross-border remittances and international e-payments have become the way of life for countless individuals because fintech bridges the gap between international boundaries. Businesses, both small and large, can operate internationally and can cater to a much larger audience compared to earlier. Companies providing international e-payment and remittance services and capabilities enable individuals and businesses to operate seamlessly, where they can make payments for their staff internationally, collect payments from overseas customers, and people working outside their home countries can quickly transfer money to their families using such platforms.

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Fraud and Risk Evasion

B2B fintech has also redirected its focus on risk management, evaluation, and fraud detection. By providing eKYC platforms, businesses help their associates like banks and financial institutions in verifying and authenticating new on-boarders, which, in turn, has proven to be an essential prerequisite for financial service providers.

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Lower Operational Costs

B2B fintech also encompasses the provision of digital infrastructure, which significantly lowers operational costs, as businesses and organizations can choose to hire third parties for managing or enhancing services, instead of investing time and resources themselves.

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Application Programming Interface (API)

Technologies like API help transfer technology from one organization to another, which aids banking and financial institutions in attaining digitalized positions. Banks and financial institutions can offer online banking, lending, insurance, and other services, which would have been next to impossible without the involvement of third parties. 

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Final Thoughts 

B2B fintech has tremendous potential across the world, owing to the multitude of readily-available technologies, like artificial intelligence and machine learning, that makes space for a massive magnitude of developments. With the onset of fintech, people have become habitual of better control and easier access to complex services, which was otherwise not possible.  

As more and more people adopt fintech into their everyday lives, the scope of services offered under the fintech umbrella increases. The growth of B2B fintech is directly related to the adoption rate of technology worldwide, which is massive, resulting in a promising future for this sector.

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The world of fintech has undergone exponential growth in the past few years, which was further propelled by the pandemic. Fintech has become a way of life for many of us due to its versatile adaptability, applicability, and practicality. A few years back, it was hard for us to imagine having minimum paperwork, no queues, conducting international transactions from the comfort of our homes, and more. Today this has become a part of our daily routine, where we bank and transact online and with ease. 

One of the primary factors for the growth of fintech is the adoption of smartphones globally. The smartphone market has scaled up unimaginably, giving way to more users and participants. As the average age of the global population is 30 years, the reason behind the inflated number of smartphone users becomes clearer.

The smartphone market came into existence to facilitate connectivity and communication between people. Individuals could chat and communicate seamlessly with each other. Another key reason behind the advent of smartphones with big screens was graphics and the gaming experience. With impressive graphics comparable to gaming consoles, users felt compelled to pivot towards smartphones. These became an easier choice for their usability, functions, and the heightened experiences of communicating, gaming, etc.

Today, as more and more users adopt smartphones, the potential and reach of fintech are increasing, which has given rise to the need for fintech education. 

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What is Embedded Fintech Education?

We have always been taught how investing is crucial for growth. However, without the proper understanding and knowledge about investing, the different platforms involved, the return estimates, etc., it would be detrimental for an individual to invest anywhere. 

Similarly, with fintech users on the rise, it has become critical to teach people about fintech, the terminology, the available choices, etc., and implant media that would facilitate fintech education.  

Here is where embedded fintech education comes into play.

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The Importance of Embedded Fintech Education

Embedded education options in fintech media and channels have gained immense importance, as users need to know about the different aspects of fintech and how their fintech choices can and might affect them. Below are some of the many reasons why embedded fintech education is gaining ground.

1. Learning On The Go

Fintech is an ongoing process that is continuously and rapidly evolving. Fintech users are learning about these changes as they happen. While some users dive deeper into these topics to better understand fintech, most users don’t. Such lag leads to a risky market, where users operate fintech resources without completely understanding the outcomes. 

The extent of fintech education can be improved by employing embedded systems in channels and platforms that are frequently operated by users. Learning on the go has proven beneficial as users are more likely to remember meanings of new terms through first-hand experiences instead of theoretically.  

2. No Special Courses and Extra Investment

With embedded systems, users don’t need to undergo special courses to improve their fintech knowledge, which also helps them save on investing in such courses. Embedded systems have proven to be a much more convenient option for users and companies. With embedded education, companies can have better control over their customer’s knowledge pools, leading to deeper relationships with them. 

3. Better Understanding of Fintech

The more customers learn about fintech and its different aspects, channels, and terms, the better understanding they develop of how they can use fintech to enhance their financial positioning in the market. With fintech robustly evolving and branching into different and new sectors, it has become imperative for consumers to learn about and understand its reach and applicability, which would eventually help them use their resources better.

4. Better Fintech Userspace

With users understanding fintech resources and the market better, the likelihood of risks in the fintech market decreases. Making informed decisions and choices by the consumer is as crucial to the industry as its investments. Fintech decisions and trends have the potential to change the entire dynamic of the global market, making it critical for consumers to develop a good understanding of fintech products and services. 

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To Conclude

With the rising stakes in fintech globally, the need for customers to develop a better understanding and knowledge of fintech terms, products, channels, services, and more, has become imperative. As most customers would not go out of their way to invest their time, money, and resources into learning about an industry, the onus gets transported to fintech companies to ensure that their customers are informed and aware of the different fintech suites available globally. Embedded fintech education allows companies to place optional educational tools in the way of their customers while they operate fintech applications, transactions, etc., to give them the option of exploring meanings, gaining more insights, and the news.

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