15 Ways Technology Is Going to Disrupt the Financial Industry

Disruption is great. The drastic changes are scary, sure. But when you're prepared for them, then you can ride that wave all the way to the top. The world of banking and finance is shifting into a totally new dimension, and knowledge gets you ahead of everyone else.

Now, the banking and finance industries are always the last to change with the times, right? You know the exponential growth that we've been seeing in AI and technology in the last few years? Well, it's about to hit those industries full force, and it's going to completely change the game of money. Some things are already brewing under the surface, and it looks like it's going to be a fun ride if you jump on at the right place and right time.

So let's get to this, shall we? Let's dig into these 15 disruptive financial trends that you need to get ahead of.

Number one: The timeline to buying your dream home is going to get a lot faster. Author and financial advisor Susie Orman said that owning a home is a keystone of wealth, both financial affluence and emotional security. Everyone deserves that kind of emotional security; it shouldn't be quashed by confusing processes, and it won't be anymore. Pretty soon, everyone's going to be able to apply for a mortgage online and get an answer within a few hours, and a denial will not affect your credit score—all thanks to digital mortgage systems.

Companies in the UK and the US have already started using digital mortgage systems to streamline the process of buying a home. You won't have to deal with the stacks of paperwork, the endless back and forth, and waiting to get things approved. Machine learning will be able to process your entire application in just a few minutes. If you have any documents or information missing, it'll let you know immediately, so you're not going to have to wait weeks to find out that you missed something, and it's holding up your application.

So the whole process will get faster; it'll be more transparent and way less stressful. The risk assessment these systems will make won't have human error or emotions to influence it, so when you're approved, you know it is accurate and secure. Mortgages are one of the oldest and most frustrating financial processes out there. It's a massive shift for the real estate industry and for you. You won't have to deal with any of that old-fashioned bureaucratic confusion. And if you're in the real estate game or thinking of buying a property, well, you need to know that this trend isn't just coming; it's here.

Number two: You'll get the benefits of crypto without the volatility. Because let's be honest, okay? Cryptocurrency is volatile. It's unstable at times, and this has stopped people from jumping on board. Enter stable coins. They've got the benefits of blockchain technology, like security and transparency, without the volatility. Stable coins like Tether and USDC are tied to reliable assets like the US dollar or gold, so you don't have to worry about your investment losing half of its value overnight.

It's a trend that could completely transform how you use your money, especially in international trade and finance. Governments and banks are already paying attention, and so should you. In a world where digital currencies will become mainstream, stable coins will give everyone the option to enter the world of blockchain technology.

Number three: Saving money will become an addictive game for a lot of people. Managing money is the most stressful part of their lives, but what if it could be fun? Well, let's make managing your finances a game—in a good way. Apps that track your income and expenses across all platforms and then gamify your financial goals are going to take the world by storm.

You'll earn experience points for saving, investing, and tracking your expenses. Maybe you'll battle it out on leaderboards with your friends—think Duolingo, but for your money. It's interactive and fun, so you become invested even in the most boring parts of managing your money. You'll earn digital badges and in-app rewards for your savings goals and making smart investments.

This taps into our natural love of competition and reward. Building healthy financial habits shouldn't feel like a slog and a sacrifice, so gamifying the experience cancels out the difficult parts of all of that. For those of you who struggle with staying on top of your finances, well, this could be the tool that finally makes everything just click.

Number four: You'll get 24/7 access to your own personal financial advisor. You know how sometimes you don't want to bother your financial adviser with questions, even when you're worried or confused about something? Or they don't answer when you do try? Or you just don't want to reach out because you don't even put that much money into your fund, and maybe it's not worth it for them?

Well, you're going to be able to get all of your questions answered about your portfolio anytime, day or night. Some financial advisor roles will be completely powered by AI. It can even design investment portfolios just for you based on your goals, your spending habits, and even your lifestyle. Businesses will be able to scale their customer service without needing massive teams of people.

This is going to kick people straight to the finish line of their financial goals and then create a whole new track for them to run on.

Number five: You won't have to worry about politics influencing your investments. Stock markets are massively influenced by the political climate, right? Trade wars, geopolitics, and policy changes shape how the market performs. Investors react to these events, which causes markets to go up or down. Politics directly impacts how companies and economies perform; it affects your hard-earned money.

Remember the US-China trade war that started back in 2018? The US imposed tariffs on China, and then China retaliated by imposing tariffs on the US. Some of the most profitable companies in the world rely on China for manufacturing and selling—Apple is one of them. When they announced the tariffs, investors panicked about how it would impact the company's profits, and then they panic sold. The market reacted; Apple's stock took a nosedive, and people sold at a loss.

But by the end of 2019, the company adjusted to the trade war. Their earnings stayed strong, and the stock climbed back up. Digital Capital Market Technologies can limit those emotional panicky actions that cause you to lose money. In Apple's case, the system would have analyzed the company's global sales, similar situations in the past, and the company's ability to weather the storm, and then give you that information too.

So you'll see that while a stock price might drop at first, the company is still a solid bet. It'll also automate trading in a more sophisticated real-time way, and it'll stop trading if there's too much volatility, which can reduce losses for investors. It's a much more stable and reliable market environment, and for businesses, it'll be easier to access capital without worrying about geopolitical issues.

Number six: Losing your bank card won't leave you without access to money. Virtual bank cards are already available from most banks in Europe, and it might seem like a small change compared to everything else on the list, but if you take advantage of all of the benefits, you'll see how it'll push you to completely change your spending habits and make your finances a whole lot more secure.

If it's not your normal debit card in your Apple Wallet or Google Pay but you still have those physical cards in your wallet, and if you lose them, then what? Ask anyone who's lost their bank card abroad, somewhere in the rice paddies of Bali—it's a nightmare trying to figure out how to pay for the rest of your holiday. Virtual cards are changing all of that because they're totally digital; you can't lose it at all.

You can cancel and replace the card immediately if you want to. Though, you can also set limits on how many times you could use it or how long you want to use it for. You can create virtual cards for different bills and expenses and only add what you need onto that card. So if some hacker gets into the merchant site, they do not have access to your main bank account with all of your money.

And it stops you from overspending too, because when that amount on your card is done, you know you've reached the limit that you put on yourself.

Number seven: You'll get all the services you need in one go. When you make a big purchase right now, when you buy a house or a car, you still have to jump through a dozen other hoops to get financing, insurance, and payment plans. Well, that's going to change.

In the future, you'll make one purchase, pay one monthly sum, and whatever insurance you want will be a part of that amount. If you want financing and payment plans when you buy a car, that'll be part of the service too. Actually, Tesla did this when they started offering insurance as a part of buying a car from them.

That started the domino effect of companies that aren't banks offering their customers different financial services. Why should we go through the whole rigmarole of applying to a car dealership's insurance partner, filling in more information, and waiting for more feedback when we just get it right then and there as a part of the car payment? Big things should be a one-payment system for everything—done and dusted, an easier life.

Now, for the next one: it uses a similar type of technology as this one, but we thought it deserved its own spotlight, because it could seriously change the game for entrepreneurs.

Number eight: E-commerce stores will offer entrepreneurs direct financing. Now, this is all a part of embedded finance. We see the baby steps of it right now with apps like Uber and Uber Eats that allow you to pay for whatever you want while you're in their app. You don't have to go to your banking app and transfer money to them; it comes straight off the account.

The reason they can do this is because of something called application programming interfaces, which allows different software applications to talk to each other. The next step of this is e-commerce platforms offering entrepreneurs loans or financing to help them get set up with their business. Let's say you want to set up an e-commerce store with Shopify; you need money to get everything started. Usually, you'd get financing from the bank, but with Shopify Capital, you could get your financing through the platform, and then you repay that loan through a portion of your future sales.

Number nine: You'll be able to buy now and pay later. Now, the buy now, pay later model has been around since the dawn of trade, right? But when credit cards became mainstream, people didn't need it as much, so the strategy kind of faded into the background. But it seems to be coming back with a bang, especially with online shopping. Companies like Klarna, Afterpay, and Affirm are leading the charge in this space.

You can break your payments up into smaller installments, and the best part is that it often is with zero interest. Buy now, pay later platforms will do a soft credit check to see if you qualify for their services. They'll set an initial limit, and you have to link your bank account to that platform because your installment payments are automatic.

Now this can be risky for customers who overspend, but for those who are in crisis and need something immediately, the no-interest payment is a huge bonus. It just isn't great for customers who need flexibility. Businesses benefit too; the regular payments push customer loyalty, and the payment options boost sales.

Number ten: You won't have to remember different passwords anymore. Don't freak out, okay? But passwords are probably going to be a thing of the past. Some parts of it already are, right? You can open up your banking app with your phone's facial recognition software. It's likely going to be rolled out everywhere else too, even at ATMs and card payment machines.

With biometric verification, you can use your fingerprint, face, even your voice to unlock your accounts and approve transactions. It's fast, faster, easier, and far more secure than remembering endless passwords. And it's just a better experience, right? No more forgotten passwords, no more password resets—one quick scan and you're good to go. Soon, it's going to be the gold standard for all of your transactions.

Number eleven: Your credit score will be able to change in real time. Listen, okay? We all make mistakes, and sometimes one stupid decision can tank your credit score. Then it takes months, maybe even years, to fix it. Even if you do everything perfectly, Michelle Singletary, who authors the Washington Post's personal finance column, even said that your credit score isn't always a reflection of your financial responsibility.

It can hurt those who've hit a rough patch or those who don't rely on credit at all. One mistake or rough patch can affect your ability to rent a place, to get a job, and get decent insurance for years. Sometimes it's also determined by your credit card, your mortgage, and loans, which isn't really fair because there are so many other ways to show that you're responsible with money.

So real-time credit scoring will adjust your score just hours or days after you pay off a loan or make some extra income. It'll also use your rent payments, utility bills, and even your payments to subscription services to show that you are reliable with payments. This one's going to change the game for everyone.

Number twelve: Sending money internationally will be like sending a text. Sending money internationally right now slaps you in the face with fees and exchange rates on both sides. Then it takes ages as cashiers from different banks manually go through all of the transactions for the day, check them, and pass them on to someone else on the other side who does the same thing. Then it reaches your account.

But blockchain and digital currencies are going to make global payments easier and cheaper, and banks are going to have to find a way to jump on board with this.

Building on that, number thirteen: Your international transactions won't get flagged mid-transfer anymore. The fees and long processing time for international transactions are annoying, right? But nothing is as frustrating as your transaction getting flagged for some regulation or compliance issue after you sent the money. Now your investment is just chilling in the ether somewhere, and who knows where it might go next?

Luckily, that stress is going to be a thing of the past. Your banking app is going to be able to tell you about any issues before you send that payment, so you can get those documents and information together, upload them, and then breathe a sigh of relief.

Number fourteen: You'll be able to set rules to tell your money what to do. You'll be able to create money management plans that adjust automatically based on your financial situation. So you could set a rule saying that 5% extra should be going into your savings whenever your income passes a certain amount, or set a rule that whenever your bank balance reaches a certain level, a percentage of that will automatically get invested into stocks.

You'll also be able to set the rule saying that if your balance dips below a certain amount, your account will limit your daily expenses to stop you from going flat broke that month. Your money is going to be able to adapt to your life events quickly and automatically.

And number fifteen: There probably won't be physical banks anymore. Banks used to be a special outing, right? People knew the tellers at the bank personally, and they would stand in line chatting to other customers and making friends. It was an outing, an event; you put on your Sunday best. That's definitely not the case anymore. ATMs already changed that years ago, but we still have physical branches for the other more demanding services that we need.

That's going to change, though. We'll be able to do it all online—quicker, faster, and more accurate. So bank branches, as we know them, well, maybe they won't even be there anymore.

At the end of the day, change is inevitable, Alux. We've seen it time and time again, especially through the last 200 years. It's coming, whether we like it or not. So you either ride that wave, or you fight against it and get caught up in the current.

So now tell us, which service are you most looking forward to using on this list, and which services do you already use and love? We can't wait to hear from you in the comments. We'll be right there with you. We'll see you next time, my friend. Until then, take care.