2021 was a massive year for Nigerian FinTechs. It was a year of big wins for many and also a year of mixed feelings for some, especially those who faced clamping down from the federal government. A lot of findings were secured, some entered into the unicorn phase, while some had their moments of merger and acquisitions. Others went on IPOs. Experts and stakeholders have stated that 2022 is going to be a very busy year for Nigerian FinTechs. In this article, we shall look at the big ideas FinTechs will tackle in 2022.
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Crypto Imbues All Financial Services
Experts have revealed that in 2022, crypto will metamorphose into full-blown financial services that will not only operate on a token basis but also other financial services like financial management, savings and lending. Stakeholders and founders of financial services will also incorporate crypto wallets in their operations. Financial apps will make provision for crypto products as cryptocurrency goes mainstream. For example, Nigerian financial apps might emulate Robinhood who started with stock trading and now facilitates crypto trading. Several neobanks will allow customers to earn higher yields through Defi (decentralized finance), and larger banks might experiment with crypto offerings. In 2022, we’ll see more crypto infrastructure built for transfers, wallets and yield as a service, custody, and more, so consumers can continue to incorporate and organize both their fiat and crypto financial lives.
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Healthcare Companies Will Become FinTechs
In 2022, healthcare companies will diversify into generating new revenues through FinTech models. Several healthcare practitioners will upsurge their operations, as they will incorporate personalized FinTech services in their operations and will eliminate third party payment systems. Healthcare companies, through their own personal and custom-made financial services apps, will improve healthcare insurance in the coming months of 2022.
Healthcare payments are extremely complex due to our country’s third-party payor system, in which providers bill for services, payors reimburse for those services, and consumers receive the service. So a generalized solution, such as Flutterwave, is less likely to offer the whole set of facilities, like regulatory compliance and health plan integration, required to comprehensively support medical practice. This will open an opportunity for healthcare companies to design custom-made payment gateways and financing products, such as “buy now, pay later” (BNPL), that aid consumers fund their healthcare bills and mitigate the threat of bankruptcy from unplanned medical expenses.
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Cybersecurity Will Become A Priority
The rate of cybercrime will increase by 60% according to experts in 2022. Therefore, premium attention will be focused on cybersecurity. In 2022, there shall be an aggressive campaign against cybercrime, and consumers will demand more from FinTechs as regards security. Heavy investments will be made in KYC, a state-of-the-art security management system, and passwordless safety to optimally secure all potential threats.
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The Surge of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Institutions, big companies, SMEs, will invest in ML and AI, because such software will be cheap. In 2022, there will be a 22% increase in artificial intelligence. Thus, FinTech players in 2022 will adopt maximal use of AI systems from sophisticated chatbots to fix several client inquiries to scam-detection engines that can verify the genuineness of KYC docs, to other new-age components that can exponentially boost efficiency, productivity, as well as customer experience at the same time.
The pandemic has undoubtedly proved to be an unlikely incendiary for the Fintech industry, as it has drastically morphed people’s conception of money and financial security. With small businesses embracing technology and shifting towards digital payments, the fintech ecosystem has quickly become an integral part of the new normal due to the increased dependence on digital contactless transactions. The integration of AI, ML, and IoT within the Indian financial has led to a substantial Big Data explosion. As Analytics and machine learning become deeply embedded into BFSI processes, start expecting automated actions and more contextual, real-time decision-making in the coming times.
Featured Image Source: The Guardian NG
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This article was first published on 4th January 2022
nnaemeka-emmanuel
Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.
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