Fintech Design Trends & Best Practices for 2023: How to make Fintech work for you?

Fintech - the beautiful amalgamation of leading-edge technological advancements & the complex ecosystem of finance - is one of the fastest-growing industries globally. There hardly ever goes a day where we are not making use of this powerful technology - be it making simple online payments on e-commerce sites, scanning QR codes to pay for cab rides, or even something as complex as stock trading or investing in crypto. Fintech is making finance & technology simple for both digital natives & non-natives.

Thanks to fintech innovations, you can pay digitally for everything - be it a cup of tea at a local tea shop or repayment of your home loan. Fintech platforms today are doing so much more than just making payments easier. They are making complex, jargon-replete industries such as insurance, investments, mortgages, & the likes turn simple, fast, easy to understand, & more approachable for the complete gamut of users. Here’s a snapshot of how the fintech industry is going to evolve in the coming years, what trends are going to stand out from the others, & some critical ways to do fintech right by NetBrama Studios.

Globally speaking, 1 out of every 3 digitally active consumers is a fintech user. This ratio is much higher in countries such as China, India, & the UK where the fintech penetration is at 69%, 52% & 40% respectively, across digital natives. The fintech adoption rates, aka, the speed at which new technology is acquired & used by the public, across China, India, Russia, & South Africa is currently above 80%. Almost 400 billion cashless payments occurred in the Asia-Pacific the region in 2022 (projected numbers), almost double the number of cashless transactions in Europe.

North America ranks #1 in terms of fintech startups, with around 10K+ fintech startups. Today more than 50% of all financial institutions employ fintech strategies & design, with the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most influential parameters that fast-tracked this evolution. With such a superabundance of fintech products ruling the digital ecosystem, it's critical to understand where this technology is headed & how to do it right to serve the users in the best possible way.

• Blockchain

Blockchain technology is based on a decentralized platform which is not controlled by a single entity (government or the like), which means it ranks high on data security thus making data theft & other financial frauds a thing of the past. Though blockchain in fintech is not a new thing, owing to its high speed, fast global reach, & low processing fees, it continues to change the face of global finance.

As per PwC stats, blockchain has the potential to boom the global economy to $ 1.76 trillion over the next 10 years, with the banking industry having a lion’s share of 27.6% share in the global blockchain market value. Blockchain enables a diverse array of fintech operations including user verification, traceability, financial data protection, contract execution, & more, within a safe, transparent ecosystem where data cannot be traced or altered. Blockchain also lays the groundwork for cryptocurrency where users can trade, lend, and borrow assets directly with each other across decentralized platforms, instead of depending on intermediaries.

• Digital-only banking

While everyone knows about banks having their digital presence (apps, websites, etc), in addition to their physical presence, digital-only banks are a fresh new concept within the fintech ecosystem where banks exist ONLY in the virtual world, without having any physical presence. These 100% virtual banks offer everything a physical bank has to offer - global payments, P2P transfers, credit cards etc without the need to have a brick-and-mortar building. This means no visiting the bank or standing in long queues or having to go through any agonizing paperwork.

Digital-only banks' key differentiating elements include - real-time data analysis, agile-based technologies, & constant ongoing innovations - that keep digital-only banks at par with their conventional counterparts. A big hit among millennials & Gen-Z users, digital-only banks provide a superior customer experience by analyzing social & geo-insights not to mention their cost-effective operating model.

• RPA

80% of financial leaders across the globe have either implemented RPA or have plans to do so. RPA or Robotic Process Automation (aka, software robotics) is here to enhance efficiency and reduce operational costs by automating repetitive, timeconsuming tasks such as onboarding, account maintenance, loan processing, security checks etc. This automation takes care of all mundane, labour-intensive tasks giving humans the breathing space to work on tasks that require more strategic thinking & planning.

By freeing up human resources & automating repetitive tasks, RPA ensures that the existing system remains undisturbed, with more accuracy & efficiency, streamlining the core functions of the entire fintech industry. It also enables businesses to identify gaps, analyze inefficiencies, & provide a birds-eye view of the entire organization’s operations thus eliminating risks & human errors.

• Fintech Super apps

Super apps are apps where users can perform a wide range of tasks under one roof. This refers to apps where you can book tickets, make purchases, pay bills, transfer money, invest money, pay fees etc - everything under a single platform, removing the need for the user to keep jumping from one app to another to get all their work done.

Fintech super apps collate multiple fintech apps roles & features into a single, seamless platform to provide a complete ecosystem that caters to all financial needs of a user. Fintech super apps appeal to a populous user base that has a common business purpose or lifestyle and builds a comprehensive, end-to-end gamut of services instead of having 5-10 different fintech apps for the same user group. Embedded finances & digital banking have laid the foundation for fintech super apps to grow & thrive.

• Gamification - “Gamification” in fintech design means using game-like elements in experience design to make it more engaging, compelling, & delightful. Gamification is done to reimagine complex & mundane things (such as tax filing or stock trading) in a fun, easy-to-understand, & simplified way that encourages users to take the desired actions & decisions on the platform by remaining thoroughly engaged. It makes use of PLB or points, leaderboard, and badges system to stimulate users to take different actions.

• Positive friction - While the job of a designer is to remove bottlenecks & create a smooth & seamless experience for users, at times, having a super-smooth experience can create issues (drastic ones, especially in fintech, where one tiny mistake/overlook on the part of the user could mean lots of money ending up in the wrong account). Thus, having strategically placed friction points in the fintech design user journey can ensure double/triple checks before finishing a transaction so that the system itself lends extra caution at points where users might make a mistake.

• Empathy in fintech - Gone are the days when customers ran around haplessly, from one counter to another in a bank (or other financial institutions)for the sake of getting simple tasks done. Financial institutions can no longer remain faceless providers of balance sheets & transactions, in an age where every organization/brand is striving to build empathy-driven customer experience.

Displaying empathy through both digital and physical channels will pave the path for higher customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty. Be it making the banking experience hyper-personalized (thanks to Big Data & AI, removing long-winded customer care phone calls, simplifying onboarding processes, or making transactions more secure - every fintech touchpoint with a touch of empathy is the one competitive advantage every fintech product should aim for.

• UX writing - UX writing is the art & science of simplifying complex concepts into crisp, conversational texts so that users don’t have to struggle to understand a digital product/platform. With effective UX writing, fintech products not only enable users to finish their tasks easily & in less time, but it also positively influences their overall satisfaction with the product. UX writing can also nudge users to take the right financial decisions & even help them turn more financially mature over time. UX writing is no longer about just adding “make payment” on buttons, it’s about the overall feel & the tone of the brand - an avenue that provides a multitude of opportunities to enhance your CX.

If you think about it, fintech is at the forefront of all digital advancements in this day & age. And, since fintech deals with finance aka money, it is at the core of the entire business landscape. All other industries - edtech, hospitality, real estate, healthcare, automobiles, agritech - directly or indirectly depend on the safety, security, transparency, & speed of financial transactions - making fintech & fintech design the most essential paradigm of the digital landscape. Both designers & entrepreneurs must pay special attention to fintech developments from across the globe, keeping an eye on how fintech evolution does & will continue to shape the future of innovation.