How Fintech Is At The Heart Of All Future Smart Cities
Today, 55% of the world’s population go about their lives in urban environments. By 2050 that number is set to reach 68% according to the UN. In MENA alone, urban populations are set to double within the next 20 years, with the majority of these city dwellers under the age of 29.
Young digital natives crowded in megapolises might be the plot of the next sci-fi Hollywood blockbuster, but it’s a reality that’s rapidly approaching, and local governments are having to reimagine the economic flow of their cities to embrace and serve a larger and younger population.
The pressing need to overcome current challenges in traditional urban environments such as ageing infrastructure, congestion and over-burdened public services, is driving municipalities to become smart cities.
However, turning a city smart and digitally transforming core services across all aspects of both the public and private lives of citizens isn’t an overnight task. IoT sensors must be embedded throughout public spaces and personal technology components, and information must be transmitted and received on a continuous basis to make predictions and decisions.
We may be years away from the first truly smart city, but laying the foundation of an interoperable digital payments system is at the core of the movement. If we peel back the layers of IoT networks and the ever-flowing data that circulates around people, vehicles, appliances and homes, there lies a payment infrastructure that underpins it all.
Cities such as London or Singapore have consciously taken the initiative to drive regulatory changes in payment infrastructure. The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s payments roadmap marked a deciding factor in Singapore’s ongoing efforts to become a smart nation. Innovation in e-payments and the will to go cashless has been enshrined as one of the major pillars of a smart nation, along with a single national digital identity and comprehensive smart urban mobility initiatives.
Transport for London’s shift to contactless payments with cards and mobile has marked a new standard in seamless public transport payments. London is also set to be the home of the first Amazon Go outside the US. The grocery store, equipped with cameras and sensors, lets customers simply take items and leave, automatically charging the total to their Amazon account.
