Financial ‘Goal Mall’, Goalry, is an entirely new fintech experience that is set to reinvent personal finance. Goalry offers an insight into the world of financial innovations and how new fintech entrants can cater to today’s marketplace.
Developments in technology have long been changing the financial world; from the invention of ATMs to exclusively online banks, contactless card payments to unlimited smartphone and watch payments. The financial world is constantly evolving to adapt to its audience, one that is increasingly online. The pandemic has made it imperative for financial solutions to be more accessible, while our online society has only sped up the amount we’re seeing new innovations in finance enter the marketplace.
Innovations such as mobile banking apps and online only banks offer a variety of services that are favourable to users, for example 24-hour access means that customers can use their bank at any time – transferring money, paying others or starting a new bank account is doable from the comfort of their own home. Developments such as AI chat bots means people can get help with banking all hours. With the world switched on 24/7, around the clock online access is a benefit to most individuals.
We’ve seen many new online banking fintech disruptors over the past few years offering better rates and benefits (such as sending money internationally cheaper than traditional mainstream banks). It’s likely that more banking options that simplify this new world of financial management, and that compete with current offers of available providers, will continue to enter the marketplace.
Newer fintech solutions can also offer an increased sense of security. Developments in biometric technology, layered security, and fraud monitoring mean that mobile apps and online banks are far less susceptible to hacking and phishing scams than computers and over the phone banking. The use of passwords and numbers to access bank accounts has now been replaced by fingerprints and facial recognition – far more difficult to forge or hack! Unfortunately, when banking apps, money management platforms and online-only banks have poor security systems, it can go awry very quickly resulting in millions being lost.
Fintech developments do not only benefit those who are looking to save money. Many platforms provide solutions for personal finance by offering advice on how people can save money efficiently whilst still enjoying their lives, identifying budgets, saving wages and even helping people to decide where they can invest their money. What many platforms lack is the ability to offer wider intelligent advice on specific topics such as insurance management, loan options, tax payment plans and more – and combine the whole plethora of personal finance in one central place.
Fintech has opened up the floodgates to give people more choice in terms of their finances. There’s no question that financial technology innovations have made banking more convenient and accessible, but as quite often in life, new opportunities pose new challenges. The risk of decision fatigue comes with an abundance of options. In the world of fintech, knowing which option will be the most effective for what people need for their finances is a feat in itself – and that’s before working towards achieving that particular financial goal has started.
When selecting products and services, customers decide on what their end goal is – whether that’s saving, getting out of debt and so on – and then select the best platform or product that suits their needs. Though when decision fatigue sets in people might end up choosing the cheapest, most popular or generic option, regardless of whether that fully provides the solution they need. Often, users will also need multiple platforms and products to suit all of their needs, so this will add another layer of complexity, where people will not only use their efforts to manage finances but also efforts to manage the many platforms they are using.
With an audience that is increasingly online, it’s important that fintech solutions seek to combine the entirety of financial management, to improve convenience. This is a fintech innovation that will shape tomorrow’s landscape of personal finance.
Future innovations should create a one-stop-shop that cover a variety of financial needs, covering but not limited to; insurance, loans, debt management, bills, budgets, mortgages and saving. This kind of broad spectrum fintech innovation is currently lacking in the financial industry.
Likewise, the user experience (UX) of fintech solutions is absolutely important; many providers lack a real point of difference where UX is concerned. Future innovations need to work with the best UX experts to provide immersive and user-friendly experiences, which are easy to navigate and present information in an engaging way.
An innovative fintech company that hopes to change the personal finance landscape combines the above concepts of amalgamating multiple finance areas, along with a stand-out user experience. Goalry is a newly launched ‘Goal Mall’ and is essentially a virtual mall that offers financial ‘stores’, education and a social networking element. It is a gamified goal management platform, which allows users to integrate their financial accounts and identify their financial goals. Its user-friendly interface displays the progress that users have made towards reaching their goals.
The fintech space is constantly evolving and there’s no doubt there will always be new players entering the space. With an increasingly competitive marketplace, fintech companies really must put convenience and user experience, alongside innovation, at the heart of everything they do as this is what matters to people searching for financial solutions in our society today.
