Fintech skills to develop now

When the term “fintech” first arrived, many thought it was yet another passing phrase. Several years on and we now know the big pillar banks did not eat up fintech startups like in a game of Pac-Man. Fintech has met the many diverse needs of today’s tech-savvy consumers and captured a niche that is expanding to mainstream year-on-year.

Some of the attraction of fintech solutions include:

Frictionless - Users get financial services when they want them and how they want them.

Community - Users are part of a community that contributes to their identity.

Lifestyle - Users are drawn to solutions that are more in tune with their lifestyle today.

What does all this mean for tech skills?

It’s important to realize that fintech skills are no longer focused on key niche technology skills such as mobile development and cryptocurrency. Today’s fintech organizations utilize all major technology stacks for various solutions being offered. Not only are the leading edge technology skills utilized, but also more traditional skills are now utilized as organizations scale and grow.

1) Security

As fintech organizations achieve viable mass in terms of user and transaction volumes, security becomes even more critical. Fintech organizations understand that as quickly as users flock to them, they can leave for a competitor, and a major security incident is not something any fintech organization needs or wants. Security skills, in particular application security and securing public cloud infrastructure, will be key skills in demand for fintech organizations in 2021. Not only to protect the financial transaction but many other traditionally back-office tasks, such as customer onboarding and identity verification, have now been fully digitized and are firmly front-of-house activities for users, with many on-boarding via self-service processes in mobile apps.

2) Blockchain

Trust within traditional financial organizations has been established over a long-term devotion to regulation, reserve ratios and track records. Whether that level of trust is sufficient is for each individual user to determine, but for new entrants that do not have decades of history, it is extremely attractive to leverage algorithmic trust rather than other forms of trust. Blockchain technology can be utilized to provide high levels of transparency and integrity for transactions and asset tracking. This provides independent assurance to users and thereby assert high levels of trust. Learning how to implement and apply blockchain technology to financial processes will be something that will be keenly welcoming in 2021 as this market space grows steadily.

3) Public cloud technologies

Whether you wish to implement chatbot functionality or highly scalable serverless functionality to cater for rapid growth, public cloud technologies from the major cloud service providers are going to continue to play a key role in enabling fintech organizations in 2021. Whilst high-street banks and similar financial institutions have the capability of leveraging multiple private data centers, many emerging fintech organizations must leverage public cloud offerings to achieve the same technology scale. By upskilling on the available services and technology available from the major cloud service providers, a “leap-frog” effect of overtaking traditional infrastructures can put fintech startups ahead of traditional players. Knowledge of the available cloud services, and the skills to apply these services in a secure manner, will be a major asset to fintech organizations. 

4) AI, Machine Learning and Data Science

Modern solutions leverage data algorithms that rely on the ability to interpret data and make determinations on this data for business execution. Loan approvals, credit limit increases, risk scores can all be codified into algorithms that leverages data as input. Moving to a model where the decision can be taken without human intervention can provide an obvious business benefit. Of course, machine learning and artificial intelligence incorporate a broad range of usage so knowledge of even fundamental concepts can enhance your ability to contribute to the fintech’s mission. Fintech organizations rely heavily on technology and using data science can further provide a competitive advantage to fintech organizations.

5) DevSecOps

Turning to processes, given the volume of new generation code in every fintech organization it makes perfect sense that Agile and “everything as code” processes such as DevOps are implemented. Incorporating security into DevOps to comprise DevSecOps is a key enabler for fintech organizations. Reducing cost, increasing efficiency are common benefits accrued by most organizations who successfully adopt DevSecOps. For fintech organizations there is an added dividend to adopting DevSecOps: compliance. Compliance as Code provides automated compliance, reducing major costs and risks for organizations operating in the financial space. Fintech organizations will not escape the necessary regulatory oversight, but by adopting DevSecOps from the outset at least a portion of compliance obligations can be automated and demonstrated eliminating part of the necessary burden of compliance in this industry.

See how your team’s skills measure up and start rounding out the essential skills to fintech success today.