Introduction
The Fintech industry is always progressing which has opened the door for the sector to have an even greater social impact. This is especially seen through areas such as inclusion, technological innovations, or dealing with pressing issues such as the cost of living crisis. In this week’s blog post, we take a deeper look into these factors as well as reflecting on what is in store for the near future.
Diversity & Inclusion
Due to the nature of FinTech being readily and easily accessible, it has paved the way for financial inclusion which has been one of the main contributing factors regarding the industry’s societal impact. Despite some AI tools having some discriminatory concerns when it comes to customers from marginalised backgrounds, it is still an improvement from dealing with traditional physical banks. Having said this, FinTech is primarily what has allowed digital banking services to not only be more obtainable to people of all backgrounds whether race or gender but also aided a lot of small businesses over the years.
Personalised User Experiences
One of the key factors for success within FinTech is its constant technological innovations and these have had a massive social impact in the way it helps customers. This can particularly be seen through the way customer service tools have not only benefited the customer’s overall experience but also enabled them to be even more financially literate. Vital tools within digital banking systems like AI chatbots, and virtual assistants giving targeted advice or interactive voice response all work in favour of the greater good of the customer which in hand, further promotes their financial wellbeing.
Cost of living
One of the most pressing issues to date within society is the cost of living crisis and over the past year FinTech services have done their best to try and tackle this matter of inflation. Due to the levels of financial uncertainty the cost of living crisis has caused, it has forced FinTech’s to come up with new solutions and opportunities whereby customers can feel a sense of direction again. This is mainly through financial advice whether on budgeting, debt or new saving schemes developed to help people from all walks of life. Overall, these strategies are definitely a way forward and are a promising start for what is to come for the future.
Conclusion
To conclude, from looking into a range of social factors it is fair to say that the FinTech industry is moving in leaps and bounds to tackle and improve current matters and circumstances. Whether this is done by focusing on all of them at once, or the most pressing ones first such as ‘cost of living’ it is with no doubt that the FinTech sector will strive to deliver and have more of a greater social impact in the near future.
