Overview

Whether you love it or hate it, money is a crucial part of society. Even if you ignore it , money rules the market. For many years, the finance and banking industries have been undergoing radical transformations. The changes are not coming to a halt and there is no room for the sector to breathe but to adapt.

The two hot terms that have emerged are Fintech and Techfin. While the two terms might seem similar, they are playing different roles in shaping the industry.

Sometimes you need to look at things from a different perspective.

There is a thin line of difference between Fintech and Techfin . It's like picking between the innovator and the ruling.

The innovator (Fintech) applies technology to the process & improves customer experience, and the ruling (Techfin) rebuilds the existing process with the help of technology.

So before understanding what is the difference between Fintech and Techfin , let’s have a look at the evolution of financial services. -

The first wave of banking and financial services transformation began in the 1970s. It focused on employing in-house essential banking solutions that included a few basic functionalities, like client data management, transactions, record keeping, etc.

In the second wave of transformation, online banking services were made available to customers by internet-enabled institutions. It led to the rise of fintech companies, which were primarily internet-based organisations that employed technology and data power to make a breakthrough in important financial services.

The third wave focused on integrating financial services like loans and payments into the important business offerings of non-financial enterprises. These non-financial enterprises are known as Techfin, which includes online businesses from various industries such as eCommerce, telecommunications, search engines, social media platforms, casino companies, etc.

Moving further, let's understand the meaning of Fintech and Techfin and how they are different.

What is Fintech?

• Fintech, an abbreviation for Financial Technology, is technology utilised to improve, modernise, digitise or undermine conventional financial services.
• It describes formulas, processes, programs, and applications that make processes quicker and more efficient.
• It automates routine transactions like check deposits, money transfers between accounts, bill payments, and financial aid applications.
• It is primarily used by businesses to process payments, conduct e-commerce transactions, account handling, and other transaction-related processes.
• The focus of the fintech strategy is to disrupt banking and financial services through innovation and speed. It automates routine transactions and closes loopholes in the current system.
• Examples : Blockchain, Digital Payments, Cryptocurrency, Crowdfunding, Stock Trading Apps, Budgeting Apps

What is TechFin?

• It includes businesses that don't primarily provide financial services but integrate them into their main offerings to enhance the appeal. They already have a huge customer base, so their aim is to disrupt the banking and financial services industry by targeting it.
• It initially concentrated on the distribution of financial services, but now it can handle regulatory compliance duties.
• It is interested in adding the transactional information to the customer data portfolio to improve the core offering and supplement financial services.
• Examples of TechFin Companies: Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple (GAFA) in the U.S. and Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT) in China.

Difference Between Fintech And Techfin

Focus

The focus of the TechFin companies is to provide supplementary financial services that enhance the importance of their core services. For example, to create a Google Pay account, you need to have a Gmail account. The primary focus of Fintech companies is to improve the customer experience by providing advanced financial services and automating monotonous tasks.

Objective

The objective of TechFin is to complement its core product and services by expanding into a complementary financial services business. While the objective of FinTech is to disrupt the current banking and financial services by using advanced technology.

Clientele Data

TechFin has a complete client database that is loyal and already using their services. They understand their needs and design their services on the basis of them. FinTech companies don’t have access to that kind of database and also lack brand loyalty.

To conclude, Fintech provides a comprehensive financial solution or process based on technical possibilities in a new product or service style to address a specific financial service issue for customers.

TechFins incorporates various current financial and technology solutions into its existing business model. The core business of TechFin is different, and these businesses just act as an added customer touch point.

Both are the upcoming trends in the financial economy and will revolutionise the user experience. Traditional institutions must instantly digitise their corporate entities if they hope to thrive in the digital revolution.