Financial Technology Investments to Exceed $150billion in Five Years

According to a survey by auditing giant Pricewaterhousecoopers, PWC, total investment in financial technology, FinTech, globally could exceed $150 billion within the next three to five years,

The survey said financial institutions and technology firms are jostling for a chance to get into the game titled.

The report, “Blurred Lines: How FinTech is shaping Financial Services”, said traditional Financial Services (FS) firms fear almost a quarter of their business is at risk from FinTechs. It said FinTech companies are more bullish, believing they could capture a third of incumbents’ business.

The report added that Nigeria is just as threatened by FinTech companies as their global counterparts. It, however, said it expects Nigeria to leap frog and adopt the rapidly changing technologies as they emerge, driven primarily by consumers’ demands.

The report, which featured the responses of 544 CEOs, Heads of Innovation, CIOs and top management involved in digital and technological transformation across the FS industry in 46 countries, said incumbents believe 23 per cent of their business could be at risk due to further development of FinTech.

Results from the PwC survey, which assessed the rise of new technologies in the FS sector and their impact on market players, also revealed that 83 per cent of respondents from traditional FS firms believe part of their business is at risk of being lost to standalone FinTech companies, reaching a staggering 95 per cent in the case of banks.

The survey showed the banking and payments industries are feeling the most pressure from FinTech companies. Respondents from the fund transfer & payments industry anticipate that in the next five years, they could lose up to 28 per cent of their market share to them, while bankers estimate they are likely to lose 24 per cent. This compares to around 22 per cent in the case of asset management & wealth management and 21 per cent in insurance.