Living Up to the Hype

2017 is almost here! With the end of 2016 comes a wave of grand predictions for next year. As President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House and selects his cabinet members, the future of banking regulations remains uncertain, which could lead banks and FinTech firms to polish current service offerings rather than create new ones.

FinTech insiders predict that robo-advisors, along with InsureTech firms and artificial intelligence, two additions to this year's trend lists, will continue to shape the way we invest, protect assets, and analyze customers’ needs. But as paper check usage for B2B payments sees a slight uptick, some still question whether FinTech—blockchain in particular—can really live up to the hype.

Top 10 retail banking trends and predictions in 2017
With an uncertain regulatory environment, it’s possible that FinTech firms and banks will spend time “perfecting the products and services that they’ve created over the last three years,” CEB principal executive advisor Nicole Sturgill told The Financial Brand. Here’s what she and other FinTech influencers predicted for 2017.

2017 FinTech predictions—the year of macro risks
Robo-advisors will continue to shake up retail asset management, but there’s a window for more B2B FinTech competitors to modernize the space. And as alternative lending sees the same rise in interest rates that usually benefit banks, one can’t help but wonder how high will the costs of borrowing go? In a LinkedIn Pulse post, Pascal Bouvier, venture partner at Santander InnoVentures, muses about these issues and others including payments, blockchain, insurance and artificial intelligence in 2017.

Marking my 2016 homework and looking forward to my InsureTech year ahead
2016 saw boosts in FinTech and InsureTech in the U.S. and Asia. Going forward, artificial intelligence will gain ground, microinsurance will shape coverage and policy durations, and the impact of blockchain on insurance will need further exploration, writes Nigel Walsh, partner at Deloitte, in a LinkedIn Pulse post.

Top five reads of the year: Infographic: what does the FinTech future hold?
More than half of financial services professionals think that blockchain is important, an estimated $2.9 trillion in mobile payments transactions will be made by 2020, and 5 billion biometric-authenticated transactions will be made by 2019. Bobsguide has rounded up these and other key 2016 developments in a sleek infographic.

Introducing the World FinTech Report 2017
Though few startups have managed to fill the gaping holes in customer experience left by traditional financial institutions while creating a sustainable business model, banks have struggled with “clunky legacy systems, regulatory burden and leadership challenged with balancing short-term profitability and long-term viability,” according to the Capgemini World FinTech Report. In it, the authors pose the same question that many financial services professionals have asked themselves: FinTech—hype or disruption?

Banks fear existing market participants most
A Temenos survey found that global banks are more likely to see existing large incumbents as the biggest threat to their business, Business Insider reported. “Although most banks perceive incumbents to be a greater threat than FinTechs, the margin between the two is slim — only 4%. This suggests that there is not yet a clear leader in the race to become the dominant provider of banking services in the future.”

India wants to go cashless. But it’s easier said than done
In an effort to crackdown on tax evaders who keep their assets in cash, the Indian government declared that India’s highest bills were invalid, but the move set off a cash crunch across the country. Now, as the government continues its push to go cashless, startups like PayTM are enabling users to conduct transactions without cash, NPR reported.

Check payments: Why 1% matters
Though the one percentage point increase in check B2B payments doesn’t sound like a lot initially, the change is odd at a time when more efficient payment methods are readily available. Companies are either willing to streamline their payments system to make it more secure or they’re less willing to make big expensive changes where the ROI is lower, writes Magnus Carlsson in a LinkedIn Pulse post.

THE BLOCKCHAIN WATCH

Collaboration will drive blockchain’s success
The tools built for blockchain are largely designed with developers in mind, which makes creating tools for consumer blockchain interaction difficult, Richard Collin writes for CoinDesk. As 2017 quickly approaches, collaboration is key. If developers work with commercial organizations and they both work with consumers, the better the results will be.

Meet the 27-year-old mathematician building a bitcoin empire
Marco Steng founded Genesis Mining in 2013. Today, it’s the largest bitcoin cloud mining company in the world, drawing in more than 300,000 daily customers and growing to employ more than 100 full-time employees from around the world, according to Forbes.

Why blockchain fails—and when it will succeed
We’re still waiting on blockchain to fulfill its promises to revamp legal contracts and land registries. Experiments so far have not lived up to the hype, but that doesn’t mean that blockchain is a total wash, writes Jeff John Roberts for Fortune. “Blockchain has clearly shifted from a sexy phase to a boring one. But that doesn't mean that, by this time next year, the whole story won't change again.”