Evolving Architectures of FinTech

Fintech, or financial technology, is often reduced to breathless sound bites, such as “It’s like having a bank in your smartphone!” or “By this time next year, no one will be carrying cash or writing checks!”

But the fintech phenomenon is broadly misunderstood, mainly because disruption is a sexier headline word than integration. In the vast majority of cases, fintech solutions will be integrated with existing systems of hardware and software. From the perspective of fintech developers, the challenge is integrating new software with old systems. From the perspective of financial services institutions, the challenge is providing operating platforms that are friendly to developers.

Although fintech is only one piece of the global financial services ecosystem, it is rapidly evolving into something on the scope and scale of social media and online search. In the same way that email “killed” snail mail, fintech will render some forms of banking either less important or completely irrelevant. At minimum, it will fundamentally alter the way we relate to the numerous financial systems that support and surround our daily lives.

Here are some of the ways fintech will transform the landscape of financial services:

• Highly personalized digital banking and financial services will become the norm.

• For most consumers, borrowing and lending processes will become easier, safer, and more transparent.

• A small but significant minority of consumers will become ...