We are approaching another digital transformation in the coming years, as the use of cash becomes obsolete. The pandemic has got people thinking about how physical financial transactions can be completely replaced by digital ones.
The advent of smartphones for mobile banking, cryptocurrency, and the move to make financial services more accessible to the general public, have opened up great opportunities for a career in FinTech.
FinTech in the global space
FinTech companies made $137.5 billion in investments globally in 2019. In the first half of 2020, a total of 243 deals with an investment of $8.1 billion capital were closed just in the Asia Pacific region.
FinTech offices are known for their innovations and creative work culture, using state-of-the-art technologies like big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotic process automation (RPA). The rapid emergence of these technologies has wide implications in a range of professions like investment, trading, banking services and risk management.
Rapid digitisation has altered the banking industry and opened up new jobs in the traditional banking sector.
As financial technology transforms specific financial services, those who are innovative and have good analytical skills will find themselves in demand.
Rapid change
A research by Marqeta has revealed that during the pandemic, 89% of European banks have changed the time scale of digital transformation from years to months. As customers across the globe take up mobile banking and online trading, aspirational bankers have lucrative positions in top-tier organisations and startups.
Those already in the industry also have a high chance of being successful in this new domain, as your existing skills are not a hindrance but an asset.
Being part of a startup in FinTech also offers you a great opportunity to brush up your entrepreneurial skills.
While some are threatened by the prospect that a transition to FinTech will narrow employment opportunities, the industry itself is reaching out to bankers so they can chart a new career in this space. They are being offered leadership roles to provide guidance that new employees in the space desperately need.
(The author is the Chief Business Officer at a higher education institution)