How Fintech’s Third Wave Will Change How You Bank
The origins of today’s boom in consumer-focused “fintech,” or financial technology, trace back to the global economic meltdown in 2008.
Since that disaster struck, the industry has evolved through three discrete phases, says Jason Brown, CEO and cofounder of Tally, a fintech startup, on Balancing The Ledger, Fortune’s show covering the intersection of finance and tech.
The first wave met demands resulting from the aftermath of the financial crisis: A need for credit fueled alternative lenders.
Online and peer-to-peer marketplaces, such as Prosper and LendingClub, flourished, while laid-off workers seeking to re-skill buoyed student loan providers like Social Finance, or SoFi.
The next wave swelled atop a flood of mobile devices that came after Apple debuted the iPhone in 2007. Access to consumers became the primary object for upstarts.
Apps appealed to younger generations, used to flicking and tapping smartphone screens rather than visiting branch offices. This paradigm is still in full swing.
Some of its best-known champions: Credit Karma, a free credit score provider, Internet-only “neobanks” like Chime, Monzo, and N26, and online stock traders like Robinhood. “These are just really easy-to-use mobile tools that you can open up the toolbox and do your financial work,” Brown says,
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