Did 2018 FinTech Live up to Expectations?

As usual, I began the year with a bunch of predictions . I always like to end the year by going back and reviewing them.

My own predictions were a little bit off. I said the main four things that would happen this year were:
  • Getting down to business with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Rationalising and cleansing core data structures
  • Continuing the digital drive
  • Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) continues to rise
  • I would claim that 1 and 3 did happen, but I didn’t see much of 2 and 4, DLT, well … are you pulling my blockchain? In fact, my worst prediction was that “cryptocurrencies valuations continue to rise (some say bitcoin will exceed $100,000 soon), and regulators will focus upon these markets to try and lock them down” … or maybe the regulatory involvement did quell that bubble’s burst.Disappointing in many ways that 2018 didn’t see a greater movement forward to get bank systems and structures sorted out, but then I guess many are still just focused on their shareholder returns and they’re doing fine so why bother?Nevertheless, I wasn’t the only one more optimistic at start of year than at end of.Jim Marous of The Financial Brand had this lovely crowd sourced list of priorities back in January
  • Removing Friction from the Customer Journey
  • Expanding Use of Data and Advanced Analytics
  • Improving Multichannel Delivery ( note: I never use the word channel )
  • Embracing PSD2 and Open API Banking
  • Building FinTech Partnerships
  • Expansion of Digital Payments
  • Navigating Compliance and Regulatory Changes
  • Exploring Advanced Technologies
  • Competing with New Challengers
  • Testing Blockchain Technologies (that was last year imho)
  • I would say that only number 5 saw any real traction out of this list, or maybe I’m being too harsh?Related: Who Will Be The First Ones Against the Wall Come the Digital RevolutionMeantime, I did share this infographic at the start of the year from Clari5 by Customer XPS … Looking back, this was probably the most accurate reflection of what happened in 2018. Do you agree?