Impacts of the Blockchain Technology on Fintech.
Two decades down under, and the 21st century doesn’t fail to amaze you with its innovation. In fact, the pace of it is so fast, that you inevitably put your hands up and give up keeping track of what is the latest in technology. This phenomenon, in its own ubiquity, manifests itself in Finance, probably more so than anywhere else. One hand to god, let’s admit it, we don’t even refer to Finance as Finance anymore but Fintech (more on that below). While that thought maybe a tad too stretched, Fintech itself is at the cusp of the renovation as if there was a need (Yes Sir)! That flux of change is coming from the headwinds of Blockchain flapping its wings, which happens to be the topic of discussion today:
Unless you possess an understanding, be it shallow, of what Fintech is, broadening your viewpoint on the Blockchain (or its implications) would be playing hardball. We’ll limit our definition of the subject so it meets the ends of this blog post.
The term that is pushed around, and marketed interchangeably with the now fast-fading term Finance, is a 21 century-incarnate of the latter. Finance, as we all understand, is a domain that deals with the details of money management, more or less. The services revolving around money management are Financial services. Conventional Finance rested on paper bookkeeping until digital transformation hadn’t forced businesses against the wall to modernize legacy systems. When unhindered technological change introduced a way to put legacy systems on fast track mode, that was when Fintech was born.
In simpler words, when technology finds a way to optimize a traditionally resource-consuming, finance-related task, that comes under the territory of Fintech. We already have a whirlwind of Fintech development that is reshaping Consumer to Business (C2B) interaction and vice versa. The global Fintech microcosm is projected to grow with a CAGR of 24.8%. That estimate cap-sizes the industry’s valuation at $309.98 Billion by 2022.
Blockchain-enabled growth among its service sectors is expected to play a major role in this transformation. If you’re new to the concept of Blockchain, you’ll find our in-depth guide on the topic helpful. For this post, its a touch and go for a Blockchain overview.
Blockchain is an ever-growing list of records run on a network. Its system architecture is no different from a database. The records are called blocks cryptographically linked to one another forming a chain. The credibility of the chain is maintained in that the mathematical hash of the last block will be found in the subsequent block. The blocks are added to the network, depending upon the consensus mechanisms deployed by the Blockchain developers. Further properties attributable to the Blockchain include:
Contemporaneous developments in the Blockchain Technology make it a multi-functional concept, one that the Fintech technology can take justified advantage of. Here’s how its service sectors could harness that power:
Cross-border payments are a chronic pain-point for Banks who’re parallyzed by a lethargic and snail-paced process. In some cases, cross border payments take up to a week to be realized. The middlemen have a crucial foothold on transfer fees charging anywhere in the region of 5-20%. Similarly peer-to-peer fintech applications in the market limit transfers within restricted geography taking their respective slice of transfer fees.
There has to be a better way to stay devoted to regulatory obligations and processing payment transfers faster. Is there?
Financial institutions are analysing the prospect with a Permissioned-style template of the Blockchain technology. They’ll act as the central authority propagating the rules for remittance over the blockchain. As per Deloitte, blockchain based payments from business-to-business and peer-to-peer results in 40% – 80% reduced transaction costs. They’re also settled within seconds.
