Mind the Gap | The day of reckoning is nigh for fintech startups
Few will survive the shakeup, and even fewer will prosper
Something is taking shape today in the world of financial technology, if we connect the dots.
After talking to technologists involved in prominent financial technology startups and platforms, a stark realisation has set in on the limits of what fintech can actually accomplish.
Indeed, I’m seeing some technologists starting to resign in a trend signifying frustration with the industry.
What started as a venture capital-driven, primal scream against the perceived backwardness of traditional banks and financial institutions has run into problems that no other new technology has faced.
The vision of how enlightened and breakthrough technology would infuse and revolutionise bank operations, investment decisions and regulation was as scary and futuristic as implementing “Skynet” in the Terminator film series.
In 2014, investment banks took the unusual approach of either investing in or providing the funds for expanding fintech startups. Some pundits thought this was an industry admission that they didn’t possess a culture of innovation; they needed to bring in expertise.