When was the last time you were inside a bricks and mortar bank? In the Netherlands, in 2023, there was a 95% penetration rate of online banking (Statista, 2024). It is very likely that you already use fintech on a daily basis. Think of all the ‘tikkies’ you send in a month to family and friends, buying cryptocurrency on your phone, using an app to make a budget, transferring money from your debit account to your checking account via your iPhone, sending money to an organization through PayPal, or managing investments through an online broker. These are all examples of fintech, the applications include payment apps, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending apps, robo-advisors, investment apps, AI-based finance, and crypto apps, among others.
Since the internet revolution, financial technology has grown explosively and having reached global adoption, it is clear that fintech is here to stay. At the same time, financial technology usage is reshaping our financial world. Fintech provides new ways to share, save, invest, and manage money – making life better for everybody it touches while helping reach those under-served allowing for financial inclusiveness, and provision of better financial options. But what actually is ‘financial technology’?
My last blog series explored the intersection of finance-education-life; and this blog is the first in a new series in which I will explore the fascinating world where finance meets technology. In the pursuit I explore the other aspects connected to it such as digitalization, compliance and regulation, the role of data and, of course, people many who are not familiar with the finance world and don’t consider themselves very digital, in the context of new business models.
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Over Kiran Aswani
Exploration of human nature has been a lifelong interest, and gathering the knowledge and deeper understanding of the world, a constant pursuit. Having lived on four continents and having been exposed to so many places and persons, I find myself even more curious, and with a heightened awareness. In Fontys, I teach finance and accounting in the International Business program. My blog is an exercise in critical thinking, looking at the intersection between finance-education-life.