Payment innovators account for just under 25% of this year’s FinTech50 and VC investment in European payments and transaction processing companies reached an all-time high in 2014.
In fact, such is the abundance of innovation, it’s becoming something of a challenge to find a space that is not being disrupted by the ingenuity of FinTech pioneers.
According to Index Ventures’ Jan Hammer, “Payments is moving from the domain of the banks to next generation platforms that can combine acquiring, processing and payment gateway services under one roof, across all channels globally.”
Indeed. Not only are FinTechs revolutionizing cross-border payments, stripping out costs, time and complexity, they are also giving consumers unwilling or unable to secure credit card services access to electronic payments. They are assuming credit and fraud risk for e-stores and they are transforming the $multi billion global remittance market.
They are also being viewed as the solution to financial inclusion. In a world where millions of people do not have access to traditional financial services, mobile solutions and, increasingly, digital currencies, are transforming not just the way in which money is transferred, but the nature of money itself.
A recent feature in CityAM explored the impact FinTech can have (is having) on the distribution of international aid, with its potential to reach thousands, without the need for bank accounts, internet or even power.
Payments have always been about trust, convenience and simplicity – how to reliably transfer value between two unknown parties,” says payments expert Roy Vella. “Technology is now deeply embedded in our daily lives and it is allowing that transfer to happen more seamlessly than ever and granting entry to many new and interesting companies. As such, FinTech has become the space to watch where the speed, agility and innovation of startups are challenging and transforming the status quo.”