In a matter of months, the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed our world. What started as a global standstill is quickly turning into a race to adapt as new data pours in, and we get a better vision of our new reality. With global productivity still in recovery, we are facing an unprecedented economic downturn that will impact the financial stability of individuals and businesses for months and even years to come. Though short-term recovery plans will enable many to survive the fallout, it will take a long-term outlook for employees and enterprises to thrive in the post-COVID landscape.

In this new normal, robust financial services will be a lifeline for many individuals and enterprises. Companies that provide digital financial services (FinTech) are better placed to take advantage of this situation. FinTech must be prepared not just to accommodate this increased demand but also to scale up their enterprise IT infrastructure while adapting to the new world, just like everyone else.

Established enterprises vs. startups – a David and Goliath situation

FinTech startups are smaller in size, which makes them more susceptible to short-term business disruption. But their size also works in their favor. FinTech startups have a fresh canvas, allowing them to develop a modern, performant FinTech solution without the hassles of migrating from old technologies. This gives them a technological edge, attracting a younger digital-first audience to their services. In contrast, larger financial institutions have been slow to adopt new technologies due to the monolithic nature of their aging IT infrastructure and services.

Rather than developing new technologies internally, larger enterprises often acquire smaller startups and attempt to integrate their systems. Often, the integration fails due to the incompatibility of this mixed pot of hardware and software, resulting in workarounds that compromise both IT performance and security.

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