It seems like every day a new business launches, and the model is so robust and evident that it makes us say “I wish I would’ve thought of that!” That thought is generally followed up with pressing questions: What can I learn from these ideas? How can I advance my own profession?
For professionals in the finance space, one thing is for sure, the future of all things money-related is digital. Here are a handful of digital fintech innovations that caught our eye, and have us asking--what’s next?
1. Digital Lending
Improved consumer analytics have made lending more accurate than ever. Lenders can better assess risk and borrowers can find products more in line with their personal financial situation. Companies like Blend aggregate data to make the lending process less paperwork-heavy and faster-paced. Borrowers can quickly uncover the information they need to secure funding, and lenders can eliminate some of the follow-up based on increased access to information, making the entire process streamlined.
Digital lending can foster a way to help your financial services customers secure funding quicker than ever before.
2. Personal Invoicing
Getting paid on time is a significant problem facing sole proprietors, freelancers, and small business owners. Invoicing has slowly transitioned from snail mail to email to digital means like PayPal. While the ease of sending an invoice has been addressed, the ability to receive funds quickly remains unchanged. San Francisco-based Fundbox seeks to disrupt that through a personal invoicing system. Fundbox is a way for businesses to advance payments for outstanding invoices and allows business owners and freelancers to instantly get paid for their work.
Personal invoicing can ensure small businesses and sole proprietors get paid in a timely manner.
3. Customized Insurance
Consumer data is shaping the way we can customize services across the board. One service, in particular, is insurance. Fit Sense is a company that has started to aggregate health data from wearable fitness trackers, like Fitbit or Apple Watch, and is turning the data into predictive analytics for insurance companies. The goal is to customize insurance premiums and offerings based on an individual’s needs and current fitness habits.
Predictive analytics ensures that insurance coverage fits the needs of individuals more specifically and tailors premiums and coverage more accurately.
4. Payment Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity for the fintech industry is becoming increasingly difficult to manage, mainly as:
- The use of third-party vendors grows
- Data exchanges increase cross-border security threats
- Technology evolves to become more sophisticated
Cybersecurity must keep up with new and convoluted payment systems, and when it doesn’t fraud goes undetected. One company, Trulioo, is working toward instant identify verification for payment transactions to help prevent and detect fraud.
The faster a transaction can be verified, the less room for fraud and data breaches.
5. Digital Credit Repair Services
While credit repair has existed for decades, digitizing the service is a new space. With the latest iterations of technology, credit specialists are now equipped with data to provide automated services that historically would take hours of manual effort. For example:
Business Software Integrations: Credit repair tools now have APIs that connect to your existing lead generation software, bookkeeping software, and CRM software to help organize and grow your current business.
Automated Dispute Process: Credit repair services are especially valuable to clients who need to dispute items with the bureaus or creditors, which can take months of follow-up to complete. With a digital process, the work can be automated, reducing work for both customers and providers.
The best part is that credit repair services can be an add-on to other financial services or an individual venture.
Digital credit repair makes for a more customized and hassle-free customer experience.
Learn how you can add a digital credit repair solution to your financial services business for an additional stream of revenue.
