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Not Another 2020 Trends Prediction Post (Seriously, It’s Not!)

Not Another 2020 Trends Prediction Post (Seriously, It’s Not!)

If you’re like me, you’re already experiencing 2020 fatigue. If you’ve read at least 10 posts depicting the top trends for 2020 in every fintech sub sector, you’re not alone.

Fortunately for you, this isn’t another 2020 predictions post.

Instead, we’re taking a look at the trends you can expect to see on stage next month at FinovateEurope. To keep things simple this year, we assessed the themes at a very high level and broke them down into three categories: the big, the little, and the trends in-between.

The big trends

As you can see in the word cloud above, the big topics for FinovateEurope 2020 are AI, digital identity, and customer experience. The only surprise here is that AI isn’t bigger. Since AI is an enabling technology it often pulses throughout multiple sectors across fintech. Customer experience, for example, is a topic that relies heavily on AI.

Digital identity is another trend developing throughout the fintech industry and has been rising in discussions around identity verification. However, digital identity isn’t quite as sexy as AI, so companies aren’t as quick to boast about their digital identity capabilities.

The little trends

The three smallest trends on this year’s list include blockchain, compliance, and PFM. Though its potential to disrupt traditional banking hasn’t lessened, blockchain has regressed slightly into the shadows of fintech. This may be the result of compliance complications that the blockchain brings. Other challenges to wider blockchain adoption may result from a lack of understanding of the subject or stem from the lack of ability for legacy systems to adapt.

PFM appears as a small topic because while many fintechs help users with their personal finances, they are hesitant to describe their technology as PFM. However, just because PFM is older than Twitter doesn’t make it any less relevant.

Speaking of relevance, compliance is pertinent to every subsector in fintech. However, the topic appears small in the word cloud because it is a bit of a status quo. In other words, every bank and fintech has some level of compliance measures in place.

The trends in between

Data analytics, fraud prevention, wealthtech, chatbots, lending, credit, regtech, and small business tools are all trends caught in the middle this year.

None of the topics is new and the only one I’m surprised to see on this list is fraud prevention since it is thought of more as a requirement than something firms are looking to add to their technology. However, recent evolutions in cybercriminal techniques, high-profile hacks, as well as advancements in enabling technologies adapted to the security space have made fraud prevention an even hotter topic than it once was.

If you want to not only read about the newest fintech trend transformations but also see them demoed live on stage, register for FinovateEurope. This year’s event is taking place in Berlin, Germany on 11 through 13 February.

Interested in demoing your company’s new technology on stage? There’s still room in our demo lineup. Check out more information on what it takes to demo at FinovateEurope or contact heather@finovate.com for details.