FinTech apps: Innovative technology to offer banking facilities to marginalised people

The term “unbanked” refers to those without a bank account or access to financial services. Most unbanked individuals only use cash, and many have no insurance, pension, or other safety net that is often associated with having traditional retirement & savings accounts. Various fields of financial data are required to produce credit scores. When that’s unavailable, it’s impossible to construct a full picture of the segment’s economic behaviour. Unfortunately, this makes the “unbanked” population invisible to traditional banks. This reveals a need for innovation in the Financial services space to disrupt the current financial system and make it more inclusive. Until recently, market realities like this kept unbanked and underbanked people from accessing the services they need. FinTech companies are addressing the current inequality in financial services, striving to level the playing field. They operate outside the bounds of traditional finance and dramatically improve accessibility for the unbanked. And, since FinTech businesses run on data, solving these problems for the unbanked also opens new possibilities by yielding rich data on this consumer segment’s income, spending habits, needs and wants. FinTechs are disrupting the financial services sector by taking a new approach to an old problem. Economic patterns are a powerful discovery instrument, and by tapping into data that was simply unavailable before, FinTech companies gain influential insights to help customers succeed. This drives innovation that can deliver efficient, highly personalised services beyond even banking, facilitating a total lifestyle revamp. FinTech companies are capable of building a complete portrait of a customer’s economic behaviour. The above puts this sector in an ideal position to build an alternative to an archaic system, creating personalised financial products based on a comprehensive account of the customer journey. This enables better, faster decision-making and more agile pricing than incumbents. Growing internet penetration and online banking capabilities enable fintech companies to penetrate remote areas where physical bank branches cannot be set up. By providing access to even basic products or services, like savings instruments or financing, FinTech companies enable people in remote areas or low-income, unbanked individuals to save, grow their money, and take advantage of government programmes and assistance. Unlike traditional banks, FinTech companies require minimal paperwork to lend. This makes borrowing from them much simpler and faster. FinTech companies also use AI for risk assessment of customers with limited to no credit histories; assessments based on indicators like income and spending patterns. This gives small-ticket borrowers and local businesses access to microfinancing services for important purchases and capital investment. FinTech companies can rapidly roll out new features and products by testing new innovations in secure sandboxes while checking for adherence to government regulations and data security. This enables FinTech companies to provide innovative products and services in a faster yet secure manner. Fast & secure digital payment modes are made available too, through FinTech innovations. The use of AI enables FinTech companies to instantly verify and transfer digital payments. Online payment modes provide more flexibility, convenience, and ease, increasing access to essential goods and services for all. FinTech can solve problems related to storing and transferring value, in addition to helping the underbanked & unbanked population become more financially included. We believe that blockchain technology and fractional ownership has solved the problem of moving stored value digitally. Real estate, artworks and commodities like gold have an established underlying value. The ability to own and trade fractional shares of those types of assets has the potential to be more than just disruptive to the traditional financial services industry. For the unbanked, it could be transformative. FinTech paves the way forward, catering to the unbanked population world over by acquiring data that gives rise to solutions that are instant, stable, secure, and sustainable. Revolutionising the way businesses will serve these customers in the future. The author is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of PaySprint, a Fintech venture focussed on Next Gen Neo Banking Solutions, offering a Unified Open API Platform Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.