Getting Up To Speed On Regulation Is Key To Fulfilling FinTech Potential

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As I attend the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this week with my PwC financial services (FS) and Tech colleagues, what I find most striking about FinTech is the speed with which it’s moving into the mainstream, particularly the rate at which mobile devices are accelerating disruption. For example, smartphones are now one of the main ways that consumers transfer money and facilitate transactions[1]. Eventually they could not just supplant banks, but computers as well. As such, mainstream financial institutions are rapidly embracing the disruptive nature of technology and forging partnerships with FinTech companies in efforts to respond to customer demands for more innovative services.

But as customer expectations have risen in this space, so too have regulatory demands. Such demands, in a highly regulated FS sector, can be a daunting challenge for firms in the tech, telecom, and media space, which are not used to such large-scale compliance efforts.

No longer a barrier, but still a hurdle

As part of the PwC Global FinTech Survey 2017, we asked over 1,300 senior FS and FinTech executives from 71 different countries where they think the industry is headed. While we will be sharing our findings later in March, I can already tell you that while FinTech execs no longer see regulation as a barrier to market entry, many are worried that the scale of the compliance demands could stifle innovation and slow business development.