During the last two years, FinTech accelerated and grew through the roof. Partly because of the global success of e-commerce and the widely known consequences of the COVID-19 situation. Now it’s time to take it a step further. What will shape FinTech industry trends in 2023 and what could be the outcome for your company? Let’s review the current market landscape. 

According to the Global Newswire, the total value of the global FinTech market will hit $305 billion in 2025. Now, at the brink of 2023, it’s good to take a closer look and prepare for the road ahead. These are the current FinTech trends. When the pandemic began, the usage of digital wallets surged to 83% and pundits project the industry will be worth over $10 trillion a year by 2025 (TelecomTV, 2021). Moreover, 2020 saw over 779 billion digital transactions worldwide, which is expected to grow 13% in the coming years and make cash payments the least common payment method by 2022.

1. Consumers and investors alike are increasingly interested in embedded finance. The search volume for phrases like “embedded finance” and buy now, pay later (BNPL) skyrocketed in the last 24 months. Buyers don’t have to visit a bank for a consumer loan. Instead, they can apply for a deferred payment and buy goods. All without the need to leave the platform they are already on. They don’t have to waste time on paperwork or enter credit card information. All data is already there.

The embedded finance market is already worth $54.3 billion and is predicted to grow to more than $248 billion in 2032. In 2021, venture capital investments in embedded finance reached $4.25 billion. That was 3x the value of investments made in 2020. The most popular embedded finance tool right now is making payments via a digital wallet. Insider Intelligence reports that 42% of Americans have used a digital wallet. An equal percentage of consumers (23%) have used BNPL or sent money via social media.

2. China will lead the FinTech market and evolution. China is a leading country for FinTech adoption. By many rates, the country is at the forefront of innovation in this regard. In fact, the country’s leadership in the area has reached almost all FinTech categories. There are more internet users (800 million, 98.6% of them using mobile) than the combined population of the US, Russia, Mexico, and Japan—and more than any country in the world.

China also leads in e-commerce. The market is valued at $1.9 trillion USD in 2019 compared to the $343.15 billion of the US, for example. All we got to do right now is to make a link between this fact and buy now, pay later (BNPL) options. Who’s going to make it to the top? Rising Chinese middle class (for more than a decade now) and BNPL operators.

According to BI Intelligence, Statista, and many other sources, China leads in FinTech adoption. In many fields, I might add – banking and payments, financial management, financing, and insurance. It’s a juggernaut with more money to invest than a few other leading countries combined.

3. Banks enter the BNPL market, competing with FinTechs. PKO BP, a Polish national bank, is one of the few in the world, that invested in its own BNPL solution. This is the next stage of the market war between high street banks and FinTech companies. Banks helped launch the BNPL, now they aggressively pursue it. We expect even more market movement in that regard in the upcoming year. 

4. The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) will become even more natural. The more data you have, the more informed decisions you can take. The more precise tools for data management and processing you have, the more accurate those decisions. The less time you spend on analysis, the better the final outcome. Takeaway? Use AI for all.

Machine learning and AI adoption in FinTech accelerated. According to multiple reports, FinTechs are expected to cut operational costs by 22% by 2030. All possible through the usage of AI. The savings are expected to have an equivalent of $1 trillion.  

5. Regtech solutions will reach all-time high adoption rates. Juniper Research (and many others) predicts, that the regtech industry will experience 200% growth between 2022 and 2026. Since More than 30% of financial institutions spend greater than 5% of their revenue on compliance, there’s a need for improved efficiency, greater accuracy, and better insights for the entire company.

We expect further investments in regulatory solutions. Especially since FinTech regulations get increasingly difficult to navigate and manage. 

6. The FinTech industry will combine financial offerings with green initiatives. We have already touched on the subject. Green FinTech companies take over the niche, which becomes more and more important. Business puts more emphasis on sustainability, consumers expect good practices. The result? 8% of fintech founders say they are in the “sustainable fintech” category.

There’s definitely room to grow here. We expect rapid development of new green FinTech, as well as the implementation of good practices among those products, that don’t necessarily agree with 100% green approach. It’s already happening. VC investment also capitalizes on the trend. From 2020 to 2021, VC investment in green fintech grew by 100% for a total annual investment of more than $40 billion in more than 600 venture deals. The trend will accelerate, bringing more green to the table. Practices, and money alike.

7. On-demand pay becomes a new way of the wage distribution. Paying on demand? We already have that. Getting paid on demand? That’s a new one. On-demand pay, also known as earned wage access is taking the market by storm. According to Payments Dive, US employees alone withdrew $9.5 billion in pay using these types of platforms in 2020. That was nearly triple the amount in 2018. The trend will continue due to inflation and financially stressful situation. Nearly 80% of workers say that they would take a job with an employer that provides on-demand pay over an employer that does not.

We expect this trend to continue its rise through 2023 and beyond. It’s convenient for employees. Tech and financial infrastructure are already here. 

Summary

FinTech industry trends in 2023 will continue its march towards increased integration of what’s already on the market and what emerged in the past 24 months. The COVID-19 situation put additional pressure on many companies and their clients. That’s why new solutions are needed. 

If you want to be a part of the solution and develop a new market juggernaut, contact us. We have agile teams on demand. They can augment your existing staff or develop a new product from scratch.