How fintech has changed the way we manage our finances over the past decade

If the early 2000s saw Canadians move to the web, then the 2010s saw them expanding their computer browsing to mobile devices as smartphones and tablets captured their imagination. Now, 82% of Canadians bank digitally, according to Simplii's 2019 Deep Dive on Digital Trends report. What's more, an impressive 34% of Canadians handle everyday banking tasks via their mobile phones.

There's still room for improvement when it comes to mobile finance. According to Simplii's report, 48% of Canadians are still banking using a desktop or laptop, which limits when and where they'll take care of their banking. That will likely shift as more people embrace small-screen banking experiences and manage their finances wherever and whenever.

We can chart the trend for more accessible mobile banking, because Canadians tell us that this is what they want. Convenience is a dominant driver for the use of digital tools among Canadians, according to Simplii's report. The top reasons that respondents cited for using digital services were to simplify life, save time and stay productive.

This need for a simpler life has also driven another fintech innovation: mobile payments as a convenient way to pay for goods and services. Today, we pay for services by tapping our phones, and increasingly our smartwatches. The concept has evolved in new directions, such as the biometric “smile to pay" technology that has wowed customers in ChinaOpens in a new window..Card tapping and other innovative ways to pay are intriguing trends, especially since mobile payments are expected to grow 33% between now and 2026Opens in a new window..

Our need to simplify means that the days of cluttered phone screens filled with apps we barely use are coming to a close: 69% of Canadians have done an “app cleanse" on their phones, according to Simplii's research, while more than half want less tech.

“Less tech" doesn't mean that devices will disappear, however. What we will likely see is a rethinking of what devices we use — and how we use them. The tech will become less noticeable and more integrated into our lives, as it makes its way from our pockets to our wrists, our appliances and perhaps even our eyeglasses.

Sales of smartwatches are skyrocketing. Wearables in general create opportunities for closer relationships between a bank and its customers. How about a financial advisor on your wrist, or even in front of your eyes as augmented reality (AR) headsets begin to trickle into the market? Could we one day gaze at an expensive price tag and have a budgeting app in our glasses tell us whether or not we can afford it?

Companies have been busy working out how to make fintech less obtrusive in the last few years. In Amazon Go stores which are not yet available in Canada, artificially intelligent computers scan items in a shopper's cart automatically, enabling them to pay without friction when they leave. These stores, first introduced to the company's own employees in 2016 and then to the public in 2018, aim to cut down on waiting and clutter for busy customers on the move. If technology like this proves workable, we might see the concept catch on more broadly.

AI has also changed our financial lives in other ways. The last decade saw the advent of the robo-advisor, which uses software to advise people on their investment choices. The first Canadian robo-advisor, launched in 2012, set the scene for rapid growth in this sector. Today, these AI-powered services are making inroads into the market, but people are still learning to trust them. According to Accenture's Powering Hybrid Advice in Canada survey, 70% of Canadian investors still feel that human advisors provide the best and most customised recommendations PDF, 320 KB Opens in a new window..

Expect to see more traction for these still-evolving digital services in the future, and expect millennials to lead the charge. For example, 38% of millennials told Accenture that robo-advisors should be a basic offering. That's twice more than investors from the boomer generation.

Another promising AI-based technology for fintech is the voice assistant. These are gradually permeating everything from smart speakers to thermostats to wireless earbuds. Research company eMarketer saw the usage of smart speakers in Canada jump from 1.3 million — 3.7% of the population in 2017 to 5.8 million — 15.7% in 2019Opens in a new window..Expect to see financial services companies taking advantage of this trend and offering voice-based services to clients.

These technologies will make accessing services that we already use simpler. The next stage of fintech will make it easier to sign up for those services in the first place. In the past, arranging a mortgage or even an RRSP account or credit card application involved a lot of waiting and form-filling, as banks checked a variety of legal and risk management boxes. In the future, back-end technologies will help automate those things, enabling customers to sign up for more services quickly using simple mobile interfaces, while software takes care of the heavy lifting and compliance tasks.

The pace of technology evolution is accelerating. The experiences you can expect from your bank in 5 or 10 years will blow you away. The tech you'll use in a couple of decades to manage your finances might well be unrecognisable. While the exact ways in which technology will fine-tune your financial life by 2030 remain to be seen, one thing is for certain: it's going to be a breathtaking journey on the road to simplifying your finances.