A common theme in many prognostications is the increased reliance on artificial intelligence and an emphasis on user-friendly interfaces. Many expect the industry to change fairly rapidly, with predictions much like hitting a moving target.

Strategic Resource Management, though, recently released its 2019 forecast and offered insights into how aggressively technology will impact the industry. Brad Downs, CEO of Strategic Resource Management (SRM), said key areas likely to experience significant changes include:

• Payments space disruption: payments on-demand will become more popular as digital devices continue to proliferate 
• Intelligent automation: artificial Intelligence and Robotic Process Automation will continue to trend upward
• Conversational banking: new interfaces and voice-based biometrics will help streamline
• Movement toward cloud-based systems: they’ll offer lower costs and less complexity

“Each of these areas will impact financial institutions of every size but nowhere will the impact be more significant than in midtier and community-sized banks and credit unions,” said Downs. “For these institutions, many of these developments have the potential to reshape the competitive landscape allowing them to extend their brand and overall franchise if they embrace the opportunity.”

SRM tracks trends by analyzing qualitative and quantitative research in addition to meeting with banking industry executives. This year, it will launch a digital learning center to store information gathered from the research and interviews. “Technology continues to increase the rate of change year over year. So, it is no surprise that our research and conversations with banking executives indicates that 2019 will be even more dynamic than 2018,” according to information from the organization.

Hybrid Accounts, New Charters and Quantum Computing

Peter Renton, founder of LendIt Fintech News, took a stab at how he expects the industry to change, including an increase in tokenization, new, approved fintech charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the application of quantum computing in finance.

The list, posted at Lend Academy, also calls for:

•  New hybrid accounts paying more than 2% interest
•  Employer lending to protect employee financial wellness
•  Explainable” AI understandable to regulators and consumers
•  Results-based lending for students to address mounting debt and high loan default rates

The Birth of the 'Micro" Will

According Crowdfund Insider, the “Micro-Fintech” will make the industry more user-friendly. Apps will be the primary driver of this shift and a new wave of tech will give users a more organic experience; one that is built into every day life.

“Fintech still feels very transactional, unnatural and prescribed. It should be micro, settled, and baked into our day to day experience. The Starbucks App, Amazon Go Stores are getting there, but it’s not pervasive and the experience is still incomplete,” according to Crowdfund’s predictions.

The list notes companies like Paypal and Venmo are making strides, but are still “bound by the archaic banking system.” The fintech community is moving from transactional to experience-based, according to information from Crowdfund Insider.