Market forces of the last decade lead to a large number of our most intelligent people changing the route they take to the top of our biggest businesses. The more difficult economic conditions lead to banks and other large incumbents laying off staff and slowing the recruitment of University graduates. Combined with the falling costs required to start a business, the timing for change was perfect. Now, a decade on we are starting to see what combining our best minds with the freedom to create their own business can produce.

Trust in the internet has been a slow process but it is now part of our everyday lives. With this acceptance comes the opportunity to expand how we interact with financial products and those companies that provide them. While we still need to be convinced to trust each new party, we no longer require the interaction with a broker or directly with the organisations’ staff. 

Like all new industries FinTech is based on innovation. By taking what we do everyday and reinventing how it is done, FinTech startups and corporate backed FinTech Hubs are improving almost every aspect of the Finance Industry. At the core of the movement is the desire to improve the efficiency of the industry, whether it is to save time, save money, or ensure you have the most suitable products for your individual circumstance.

As we move away from the need to review information where it actually sits, we are able to unshackle ourselves from the models of the last few decades. Carrying a smartphone now links us to those professionals we need to work with and gives us access to the relevant information we need to achieve financial freedom. Our increasing computing power also means that we are now able to rely on computers to perform complex calculations that we once relied on trained brokers to achieve.

Technology is changing both the type of Financial products we interact with and the delivery in which we acquire them.

Much of the FinTech movement is developing around offering better products at reduced costs than we are used to. By focusing on just a specific aspect of the industry and improving upon it they are able to achieve what the larger incumbents haven’t been able to. The days of a single company such as a bank being a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ for all our financial needs is fast disappearing.