Biggest challenges when you build a fintech startup
From the keynote talk of Keti Meparishvili, Regional Manager of Asia, TWINO, made on 30.10.2019, at Touch Digital Summit, Tbilisi, Georgia.
“Building a bank for the future is a job for the bold.”
Financial technologies have become an integral part of banking. The fintech industry has grown massively over the last couple of years and has changed the face of banking worldwide. At Touch 2019 - Digital Summit, our speaker Keti Meparishvili from TWINO shared with us the challenges that fintech companies need to be prepared for. Individuals nowadays are in need of simplified and accessible lending possibilities which gives birth to P2P lending platforms. Fintech companies allow them to obtain loans directly from other individuals cutting out the financial institution as the middleman. In such a way, individuals earn more benefits such as buyback guarantee and no currency risk. However, while fintech provides a number of exciting opportunities, it brings challenges on its way as well: Data Science in fintech Fintech companies heavily depend on machine learning, predictive analytics and data science to simplify financial decision making. Keti shares with us the recipe for fintech data science: with the help of machine learning algorithms, scoring systems and real-time data, data scientists are able to determine whether a prospective borrower is eligible for a loan. Financial institutions should also gather data inputs for personalized services and best UX/UI and provide omnichannel strategies to create customer profiles. Adding to this the fraud detection possibilities in order to segregate suspicious moves and patterns.
Regulatory environment As you know, the regulatory environment is ever-changing and the financial institutions have to face constant challenges. Smaller fintech companies are failing at the stage of regulatory compliance, while the big financial institutions are having whole teams to deal with those laws. Introduction of those regulations has fintech companies investing significant time and resources to ensure that they comply with the new laws. Fintech companies are often unaware of which regulators and governing bodies they must comply with. This problem can result in a delay of getting a license on-time, also the possibility of getting charged. This can prove to be the biggest challenge of fintech, especially when regulations fail to keep up the pace with changes in technology. So anyone planning to develop an application or introduce a new product or service to the fintech market needs to familiarize themselves with a complex regulatory landscape starting with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Cybersecurity and Credibility Dealing with cyber-attacks is a serious obstacle facing not only the fintech industry but also businesses all over the world. Mostly newly established fintech startups are becoming a destination point for cyber attackers because of their customers’ sensitive personal data which results in losing customer trust. Although companies make a great effort to keep the data safe, it becomes hard to protect everything from cybercrime. But the reality here is as follows: attacks happen and they will happen as long as there are humans on this planet. However, they should not happen if you protect your infrastructure properly as even a small-scale security breach could leave your business in poor condition. Companies may need to think and act like a hacker in order to protect their assets as well as reassess their approach securing themselves and their clients from cyber criminals. *** Undoubtedly, there are costs and challenges to consider when it comes to implementing and keeping up with financial technology. However, fintech offers incredible potential for financial institutions to become more efficient, ultimately leading to better services for their customers. So if you still consider starting your own fintech company, here are a few tips from our speaker Keti: Plan and research - Road ahead will not be easy when it comes to fintech! Make alliances, access your capabilities and measure the risks in order to overcome the obstacles. Invest in Data Science - Don’t forget the costs of implementing Risk Analytics and Machine Learning in your services. Know your customer - Always make things easier for the consumer and avoid being a soulless financial institution. Compete to create the best customer journey and last but not least, don’t forget a human TOUCH in your business!
Besides cybersecurity, fintech companies need to gain credibility and in order to do that, they need to be patient about building trust within their customers. The best way to do that is to talk to the customer, keep their needs and experience at the heart of every new technology you adopt. The aim of the game is always to make things easier for the customer and to offer them a level of service and support they wouldn’t get elsewhere.
If you want to hear more about Fintech Challenges from Keti, watch her full talk here on our Facebook page.
