A Look at the New Fintech Trends that Evolved in 2017 and What's in Store for this Year In the current year, all the devices associated with edge computing are likely to get more sophisticated

Business is a risky game. You win some, and you lose some. But, the biggest risk you can take is to avoid change. Deep-dive into understanding the latest in fintech advancements discussed here and ride the new wave of growth for your business.

The Fintech scene in 2017 has put forth some definite trends which brought about beneficial returns to the entrepreneurs. Here are some some of the trends that have fairly evolved the financial landscape during the year gone by.

1. Banks Joining Hands with Fintech

When the idea of Fintech came into being, these firms were majorly competing with conventional financial organizations and banks. However, by the end of 2016, a change was seen with the two forces collaborating with each other. This relationship further evolved in 2017, and both Fintech and banks have benefitted from it. While banks gained in terms of revenue and customer retention, Fintech firms found legitimacy in the area of conventional payment methods.

2. Quick Financial Transactions

Before the emergence of Fintech and digital payments, financial transactions took a lot of time. However, in 2017, Fintech companies' integration with the banks has brought about a revolutionary change. The collaboration has now given way to real-time payments, P2P payments and more.

3. Increased Focus on AI

The Fintech scene in 2017 was brimming with developments on the Artificial Intelligence front. With the evolution of AI, Fintech firms were able to make more efficient decisions and find comprehensive solutions to their business problems. Predictive analysis became the key to a breakthrough in Big Data and helped in analyzing ginormous amounts of customer details.

4. Superfluous Wallets

The widespread use of smartphones and wallets proved to be a boon for the Fintech revolution in the year that just went by. Plastic credit cards lost their charm as phone wallets gained on customer preference over credit cards and cash.

5. Rise of Block Chain

The Fintech firms finally gave in and started exploring the Blockchain technology in 2017. Big Data and other complicated records are now being saved digitally; this has enabled real-time updates of transactions in data records.

Though the adoption of Blockchain technology in the Indian fintech space is new, there is considerable progress in this arena.

According to experts, if used wisely Blockchain technology can help in saving large amounts of money.

These Fintech trends that rose and evolved during 2017 have brought in a positive change in the sector. We can't wait for what 2018 has in store. The Fintech gurus have already started making speculations and here is what is being expected.

1. Giving Way to Edge Computing

Cloud computing and IoT have proven to be advantageous to the business owners as well as the customers. However, transfer and linking of a massive amount of data seem complicated. The rise of cutting edge computing solves this problem as it processes the data near the source. Thus, the bandwidth required for the purpose is reduced. What's more, this will increase the security and privacy of the data.

In 2018, all the devices associated with edge computing are likely to get more sophisticated. This will increase the need to create a balance between the domains of edge and cloud computing to ensure delivery of refined and reliable data.

2. Cloud will be Still In

Though edge computing will be a big thing in 2018, it is not going to reduce the popularity of cloud computing. With more and more companies offering cloud-based services, there is an increased potential of integrating clouds, which in turn will reduce the need for having an in-house tech department. Also, by integrating multiple cloud providers, complex services like content management, data analytics, storage, etc. can be offered.

3. Security Counts

The Fintech firms have a never-ending task of enhancing their security measures at regular intervals.

With the number of connected devices growing, chances of security breaches, planting of ransomware and hacking attacks would be at an all-time high. Hence they are likely to go big on Cybersecurity this year as well.

4. Platforms for Making the Best Use of IoT

IoT has reached that stage today where scaling and collecting the data, analyzing it and managing the network of all the connected devices requires an efficient design. This will allow coexistence of equipment of various vendors as well as a quicker exchange of information.

A number of companies have now emerged which offer platforms to support such IoT designs. In 2018, this arena will further evolve.

The year 2018 is undoubtedly going to bring more promising Fintech trends than what can be predicted. However, the one thing that you can be sure of is that the world is changing at a fast pace and you as an entrepreneur need to stay in sync with these changes. Innovate or die, is the war cry in 2018.