Why every start up and business needs to be aware of the latest FinTech trends

Another great guest post from the Digital Skills Academy, this time on the importance of following the latest FinTech trends for all businesses.  For more about the Digital Skills Academy see here.

‘FinTech’ may seem like a buzz word but every business must at some point deal with payments in some shape or form. If you approach FinTech from this perspective then you can focus on the possible opportunities for your own business.

Websites needs to deal with payments, in a secure way, and to be accessible across a range of different devices by customers. If you can give your customers / clients a quick, painless and trouble free experience as they will value your service or product and recommend it to others. This type of referral by word of mouth is gold dust for the growth of your business.  If you can achieve this, you will be on your way to a successful and growing business.

Some key questions to ask yourself as you plan the e-commerce side of your business:

• How would you like your customers to pay you?
• How would your customers like to pay you?
• How many steps will it take for the transaction to be completed?
• How will you ensure this transaction is secure?
• How will you explain this to your potential customers?

There are many more aspects to consider but it’s crucial that you have at least thought through and come up with some strategy to deal with this flow of actions. There will be no point in developing a fantastic product, marketing strategy, and then, on launch day, have an incomplete or difficult to use financial transaction system for your online e-commerce portal.

In an exclusive interview for the Digital Skills Academy, Ian Cleary global social media expert said one big thing he would change would be to have had the ability to sell from day one 1 at Razorsocial.

Traditional banks and banking services have realised that there are now many, many ways for people to buy things; products, services and experiences. Often these exchanges are made without any money moving between traditional banks. For this reason traditional banks have realised they need to find a way to be involved where the business deals are taking place. If you look at FinTech as the name for the place where all future looking businesses need to be managing their transactions, then you will be making a useful and strategic step towards anticipating future methods of payment.

Useful global thought leaders to follow to get an idea of future trends in FinTech?

There are many possible answers to this, but the FinTech Mafia on Twitter is a great place to start. @FinTechMafia  This is a loose collective of FinTech thought leaders. They are all on twitter and frequently posting their latest thoughts and observations about current and upcoming trends. They are happy for you to pick their brains digitally, and most of them are quite likely to reply to direct questions you might ask them. This gives you a fantastic resource for spotting future trends and staying ahead of your less digitally connected rivals.

Important e-commerce aspects to consider for your website

• Security
• Ease of payments
• Speed of payments

Whatever your business you goal will be to make enough money to cover your costs, and ideally a whole lot more. If you make it easy for people to buy and pay for what you are offering, they will be more likely to do so a second time and recommend you to others. We are also in a time of more rapid change, more and more of our business is being done online, and also with mobile devices that we carry around with us.

Engaging with FinTech trends may also bring your business strategic benefits

There are lots of FinTech incubators, accelerators and hackathons out there. Many large financial companies, Mastercard, BBVA, Santander, RBS and many more are putting money into events. Have a look at your own idea and see if it has the ability to potentially work in other markets beyond the one you are currently looking at. Realex, a successful Irish company recently bought for €115 million, developed by building a payments solution for a very small niche area, and then look for wider applications of the problem they had solved.

This wider view of the potential applications for your business idea offers you the chance to be successful in more than one area, and often instead of where you had initially thought you might have been successful.  – See more here:

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.net or @SimonCocking