Connect with us

Business

Fintech 2031 – where is accounting software really going?

Source: Finance Derivative

Paul Sparkes, commercial director of cloud-native accounting software firm iplicit

Delve into the archives and the fintech timeline can be traced – in some instances – as far back as the early 1900s with other reports saying it began in the ‘60s.

In short though, regardless of where the term first originated, fintech has a long future ahead of it because modern-day companies are always exploring ways in which they can work smarter, not harder, with the assistance of technology.

Mass adoption of fintech has resulted in the formation of new, vibrant companies, and challengers and disrupters to the ‘old guard’ financial services firms – with each and every one attempting to shake up the status quo.

Fintech has generated billions on a global scale and armed accounting and finance professionals with the tools – not only to complete tasks quicker but to transform their way of thinking – encouraging a digital-first mindset, and a hunger to explore new ways to streamline operations.

In addition, customers today expect nothing less than a speedy service that feels personalised and easy-to-navigate. They don’t want clunky systems that they can’t use, they want innovation that makes their lives easier. So, for the companies willing to evolve with agility and challenge ‘what has always been done’, how will fintech assist them in the future?

Forward-thinking organisations will prioritise automation

The truth is automation isn’t a new thing. Like fintech, it’s been around for decades and yet people are still unsure as to what it can do for their business, or whether they can fully trust it to do a good job.

Smart technology should enable organisations to prioritise projects, help enhance productivity and efficiency as well as alleviate overwhelming workloads. And when they plug in automated solutions? They should be programmed to complete the mundane, day-to-day tasks in the background, 24/7.

That’s where automated payment runs will truly come into their own throughout the next 10 years. Designed to automatically identify due and overdue invoices, as well as pay vendors, there’s no doubt that companies will cease to spend another minute chasing payments, rather automation will become their best friend – reducing the mundane tasks and leaving time to focus on strengthening customer relationships and prioritising innovative projects.

Increase of on-the-move technology

No matter where someone is based, the boundaries between what mobile devices can currently do and what a desktop achieves will disappear altogether. And as businesses continue to embrace hybrid working, along with flexible and remote patterns, people will expect to have solutions firmly at their fingertips – regardless of time-zone or location – so they can continue to do their jobs and utilise technology in a way that enhances their lives.

The expansion of voice tools

Audio-first technology has already transformed the ways in which many people now communicate in the home and from the office. Devices such as Google Nest and Amazon Echo are not only recognising simple commands but they’re helping users to organise everything from their diaries to their shopping lists.

And alongside the accessibility and inclusivity benefits they present, it’s expected that these tools will only continue to evolve. What this means from a company’s point of view is that they can ensure they stay ahead of the curve — because it won’t be long before placing orders and everyday reminders such as ‘Alexa, send out remittance advice’, ‘send my monthly rent invoices’, ‘how much have we spent on this project to date’, and ‘do payment run’ will all be commonplace.

Legacy desktop software will be shelved

Just like floppy disks and blu-ray DVDs, clunky systems with servers based in the corner of the room will be a distant memory. That’s because people want technology to offer them flexibility and efficiency.

For accounting professionals in particular, they no longer want to be shackled by unagile, on-premise or ‘fake cloud’ software that’s not only costly to upgrade but complex to manage.

As nimble workforces crave even more efficiency and a way to address overwhelming workloads to remain relevant in a fast-paced world, organisations will soon outgrow legacy tools – if they haven’t already – and begin to favour true cloud solutions that are forward-thinking, intuitive, and fit-for-purpose.

The popularity of Open Banking will increase

Creating greater financial transparency isn’t anything new for fintech firms, however, the signs are pointing to the fact that Open Banking usage will continue to rise in popularity.

That’s because people want an uncomplicated, seamless configuration between their software and the organisations they bank with. They need to feel in charge and take advantage of better deals that are tailored to them, all in one place, and without the requirement of travelling to a physical premise.

Blockchain’s bubble won’t burst

Despite it being around for years, there’s been a recent surge in blockchain and smart contracts which are continuing to disrupt the fintech market.

While there are many sceptics out there who simply don’t trust investing in something they can’t see, they are picking up momentum and expected to become the bedrock of major economies.

And finally, the separation of organisational and Government data will blur, so when it comes to sending an invoice, for example, the VAT return will be automatically updated on Government’s systems.

As well as closer links, the fintech space will experience more evolutions. Some will come and go, but others will continue to revolutionise the way in which people personally manage their money and organisations handle cashflow. Fintech is all about disruption. When smoother processes, greater inoperability, and security-rich functionality are constantly rolled out, the question for businesses leaders is, what will they invest in next?

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business

Beyond compliance: why the shift to ISO 20022 is more than a messaging upgrade

Maria-Christine Diaz, Senior Business Strategy Manager at Eastnets, explores why ISO 20022 is more than a mandate – it’s a catalyst laying the groundwork for future-proof payment services

The SWIFT-mandated migration by November 2025 is set to end MT message processing for interbank cross-border payment instructions and cash management reporting (CBPR+). Yet, according to SWIFT as of December 2024, only 33% of organisations had adopted ISO 20022 for CBPR+. It highlights a deeper issue: many organisations still see it as a technical obligation when really, the migration implications stretch far beyond protocol upgrades and format translations.

ISO 20022 is not a one-off project. It is a multi-year, cross-functional transformation program touching every part of the business. It’s a strategic opportunity and a chance to rethink how financial institutions manage payments infrastructure, compliance and customer value propositions in a rapidly evolving digital economy.

However, it demands a coordinated, business-wide response.

Why tactical fixes won’t solve strategic shifts

At its core, ISO 20022 replaces the flat, ambiguous MT messaging format with structured, contextualised data that applies across all payment types, domestic and cross-border. It allows institutions to capture and exchange richer details – from payment purpose code and country of origin to beneficiary information – with far greater quality, accuracy and completeness.

That quality creates tangible value. It promises to strengthen Straight-Through Processing (STP) efficiency and dramatically improve the effectiveness of fraud detection and anti-money laundering (AML) processes. How? By reducing the number of investigation cases and false positives that have long strained operations teams. ISO 20022 also supports regulatory focus on real-time transaction monitoring and incident transparency, something central to frameworks like the EU’s Payment Services Directive 3, the AML Directives and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

But ISO 20022 doesn’t just support regulatory alignment, it fundamentally alters the operational risk landscape. Most institutions still rely on compliance processes and infrastructures built for MT messages, which are poorly suited to handle the granularity and structure of ISO 20022 data. And when this richer data is simply “bolted on” to legacy systems, problems quickly arise.

Many banks are pursuing a tactical fix for what is a strategic shift – it’s like trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Systems and processes were built around the limited MT format which are flat, fixed and often ambiguous. Existing rule sets designed for flat MT messages begin to break down, triggering too many false positives and overwhelming compliance teams with noise instead of insights.

To realise the full value of ISO 20022, institutions need to map how payment data flows across their organisation. This helps identify legacy workarounds, uncover operational risks and pinpoint where ISO 20022 adds complexity or unlocks new opportunity. Therefore, a comprehensive business-wide impact assessment is essential to strengthen AML, sanctions screening and fraud detection processes.

With that foundation, banks can sharpen customer insights, strengthen fraud and risk controls, and develop new value-added services. As sanctions lists and fraud rules update in near real-time, combined with financial crime compliance costs surpassing $1 trillion in 2024, the ability to act on cleaner, more contextual data has become business-critical.

Therefore, making ISO 20022 work for the business means moving beyond retrofitting and honing in on three areas that drive real transformation.

More impact than meets the eye

The real opportunity begins when ISO 20022 data is integrated into core systems, not just translated at the edges. Payments data now impacts every business line – from retail and corporate banking to capital markets and trade finance – influencing every process from front to back office.

Again, migration is not a one-off project but something that touches every part of the business, from reconciliation processes to customer-facing services. The key challenge of this transformation is knowing where the payment is, its status, without ambiguity, at any moment. Think of it like tracking an Amazon parcel delivery. To manage this, institutions need lightweight analytics tools to monitor and track payment messages in real-time across systems, to reduce reconciliation errors, manual workarounds and operational risk.

The true value lies not in seeing the information, but in using it to streamline operations, resolve issues faster and deliver better outcomes.

The path to optimised financial crime detection

As ISO 20022 fundamentally offers richer information, one of the most immediate benefits lies in financial crime prevention.

To take advantage, institutions must recalibrate financial crime systems to work with clearer, structured and contextual ISO 20022 data. This isn’t just about better information, it’s about better precision. Finetuning these systems through precise finetuning techniques to improve detection precision and strengthen risk mitigation, all while reducing and operational costs.

Take Sohar International, a bank operating in the Middle East, as an example. It reduced its false positives by 67%, helping to distinguish between legitimate and suspicious transactions, simply by optimising screening strategies and using structured ISO 20022 data. That kind of result creates space for smarter, faster decisions across the organisation, all while strengthening its AML compliance framework.

An opportunity for leaner payment processes 

Additionally, ISO 20022 presents the perfect opportunity to modernise payment infrastructures with a modular orchestration layer – a flexible, business-agnostic workflow engine that seamlessly translates and routes messages across systems. This shields core business applications from changes in formats, protocols and standards, reducing maintenance overhead and operational risk and accelerating ISO 20022 adoption without disrupting core operations.

Moreover, it enables real-time monitoring, detection and investigation of issues such as duplicate payments or delayed messages, providing transaction integrity across the entire lifecycle. Having infrastructure agility translates directly into business performance, which can lead to increased cross-jurisdiction visibility in real-time and optimised STP rates, making sure payments move securely, efficiently and in line with market expectations. .

By building this agility, financial institutions lay the groundwork to rapidly adapt to future market changes, new services and customer demands without overhauling core systems. It also provides real-time visibility and transaction integrity, making sure payments move securely, efficiently and in line with market expectations.

Unlocking the true value of ISO 20022

Treating compliance as the end goal is a strategic misstep.  So, without a coordinated business-wide transformation strategy, supported by optimised financial crime tools, a lean orchestration layer and real-time monitoring, institutions risk operational disruptions and regulatory scrutiny impacting their bottom line.

What’s ultimately at stake is more than a messaging upgrade. It’s the opportunity to reshape financial infrastructure for an era defined by sustainable growth and operational resilience.

The real value of ISO 20022 lies not in translating messages, but in transforming the business. Those who embrace the shift – not just to adopt, but to adapt – will be best positioned to unlock smarter, data-driven growth in the years ahead.

Continue Reading

Business

The Quiet Strength of Being Clear – Why Assertiveness Matters More Than Ever for Founders

By Rebecca Sutherland, CEO and Founder of HarbarSix

There’s a word that often makes people shift a little in their seats. Assertiveness. It can sound sharp, maybe even a bit harsh, like something that belongs in boardrooms filled with ego or in negotiation books gathering dust on someone’s shelf. But in truth, assertiveness, when you really understand it, is one of the most compassionate tools we have as leaders.

Because at its core, assertiveness isn’t about being pushy. It’s about being clear.

And when you’re building something, a business, a team, a dream that lives outside the ordinary, that kind of clarity becomes essential. Without it, you end up drifting, making decisions that don’t feel quite right, saying yes when you mean no, and slowly watching the thing you once felt lit up by become a source of tension or exhaustion.

I’ve seen it happen more than once. A brilliant, creative founder full of drive and vision, slowly ground down by too many compromises, too much people-pleasing, too little space to breathe. They don’t lack skill or ambition. What they’re missing is that anchor, the ability to be assertive without feeling like they have to apologise for it.

So, let’s unpack that, because I think we need to talk about how to lead from a place that’s both strong and soft. Firm but open and rooted in who you are.

Assertiveness starts with self-trust

Before you can speak clearly to others, you must be clear with yourself. What do you stand for? What kind of culture are you trying to build? What do you value, not just on a branding level, but deep in your bones?

Because if you don’t know that, you’ll find yourself pulled in all directions. You’ll agree to partnerships that don’t serve you, hire people based on panic rather than alignment, and find it hard to hold boundaries when the stakes feel high.

But when you do know—when you’ve taken the time to understand what really matters to you—it becomes easier to communicate it, calmly and confidently, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Saying what you mean isn’t unkind—it’s respectful

There’s a misconception, especially among founders who want to be “good” leaders, that being direct is somehow abrasive. That if you’re too clear, you might upset people. But in my experience, the opposite is true.

When you wrap your truth in too many layers of softening or delay saying the hard thing because you’re worried about how it will land, you actually create more confusion, not less. People want to know where they stand. Your team, your investors, your clients—they respect leaders who can speak with warmth and certainty.

You don’t need to bark orders or dominate a room. But you do need to be able to say, “This isn’t working for me,” or “This direction doesn’t feel right,” or even, “I’ve changed my mind.” That kind of honesty is a form of care. It protects your energy, and it gives everyone around you a clearer playing field.

Boundaries aren’t barriers—they’re invitations to trust

One of the most powerful forms of assertiveness is knowing when to say no. Or not yet. Or not like this.

As founders, we’re often wired to keep giving—to clients, to our team, to the business itself. But that constant giving, without boundaries, leads to burnout. And more than that, it models a kind of unsustainable leadership where overextending becomes the norm.

Boundaries, when set with intention, are not walls. They’re signals. They say, “This is how I work best,” or “This is what I need to stay at my best,” or “Here’s the line where my role ends and yours begins.” And far from pushing people away, they create the safety and trust needed for real collaboration.

Not everyone will like it—and that’s okay

Here’s the part that might sting a little: not everyone will like your assertiveness. Some people will bristle when you stop bending over backwards. Others may be used to you saying yes to everything, and might struggle when you start to reclaim your space.

Let them. Your job isn’t to be liked by everyone. Your job is to build something honest, sustainable, and true. And the people who are meant to walk alongside you? They’ll stay, in fact, they’ll probably thank you for the clarity.

Practice before you need it

Like any skill, assertiveness gets easier with practice. Start small. Have that conversation you’ve been avoiding. Say no to the next thing that doesn’t feel aligned. Express a need clearly without over-explaining. And then do it again. Not perfectly, just consistently.

If you’re not used to it, it might feel clunky at first. That’s okay. Clarity is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.

The most powerful leaders are not the loudest

They’re not the ones who dominate meetings or chase visibility for its own sake. They’re the ones who know who they are. Who can sit in discomfort without losing their footing. Who can say the hard thing with softness and stay true to their vision when the noise gets loud.

Assertiveness isn’t about power over others—it’s about being in your own power. And when you lead from that place, it changes everything.

For your business. For your team. And most importantly, for you.

Continue Reading

Business

Innovation in banking must go hand in hand with security, and here’s why

Dean Clark, Group Chief Technology Officer for GFT

The banking sector is transforming more and more, with banks under pressure to meet customers’ evolving expectations. This means that even the most traditional institutions have to move away from legacy systems and adopt modern technologies such as cloud computing and AI. The aim of this shift is not just to keep pace with digital-native competitors, but also to improve operational efficiency and deliver better customer experiences.

However, innovation brings new challenges. Transitioning from centralised mainframes to cloud-based platforms is a complex process that can’t happen overnight. Amid this transformation, banks must ensure that security remains a top priority. Striking the right balance between modernisation and robust security is essential to building and maintaining consumer trust in the digital age.

Balancing agility with security

Multicloud is a key component of digital transformation strategies in the financial sector. Many banks are relying on hybrid multicloud to modernise and keep up with the evolving tech landscape. In the meantime, new digital banks are launching entirely on cloud-native platforms, which helps support agility and scalability from day one.

Cloud technologies offer many advantages, including improved performance, flexibility and faster innovation. However, despite these benefits, they do come with security challenges. Cloud infrastructure, often built and managed using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), can include some vulnerabilities and give an entry point into a bank’s system to malicious actors. As such, ensuring that IaC adheres to best practices is essential to avoid misconfigurations or exploitable vulnerabilities as early as possible.

The protection of consumer data must also be central to any digital transformation strategy. Security must be deeply embedded not only in backend infrastructure but also in the user-facing layers such as web portals and mobile applications. This is critical to maintain consumer trust and improve retention.

Why a unified security platform is essential

When undergoing digital transformation, financial institutions need a unified security solution to help streamline the security management process by having all the necessary tools in one place. In fact, a unified security solution is built on three interconnected pillars. First, security must be embedded directly into development pipelines. This integration helps identify and mitigate risks and misconfigurations early, before they can impact production. Second, through continuous monitoring and management of cloud assets, banks can gain more visibility and control over their security posture. Third, runtime protection safeguards cloud workloads, web applications and APIs through tools like cloud threat detection, host security, container security, serverless security, and web application & API protection. Together, these pillars help to establish a robust security framework. This way, digital banks can minimise risks, streamline operations and ensure compliance with regulatory demands.

The benefits of ‘zero trust’

Modern cloud-native banks rely on ‘zero trust’ security models more and more. ‘Zero trust’ refers to the principle according to which every request to access an organisation’s system should be carefully reviewed. This means that no user or system is trusted by default. They’re all subject to identification and authentication checks. This helps set clear boundaries between the applications the users are accessing and the resources available in the cloud. And even after access has been granted, all activity is monitored on an ongoing basis to identify potential malicious behaviour that could compromise digital banking systems. This continuous verification enhances visibility into potential threats and facilitates compliance with regulatory standards.

To further reinforce security, mutual transport layer security (TLS) can be implemented as a core design principle, enabling secure authentication with third-party entities over the internet. By adopting such measures, digital banks can build a resilient security foundation that safeguards against evolving threats whilst preserving customer trust and operational integrity.

The example of Salt Bank

Salt Bank is a next-generation digital bank launched in Romania. It serves as a good example of a financial institution that embedded security into its digital banking platform from the start. Salt Bank was built and launched in under 12 months, showcasing the power of an approach to innovation that heavily relies on security.

Salt Bank implemented a range of advanced security measures, including zero trust architecture, threat modelling, cloud security posture management, and automated security operations, guided by this security-by-design philosophy. These tools helped the bank implement a strong defence against cyber threats whilst still focusing on improving customer experience.

Central to Salt Bank’s strategy was Engine by Starling, a SaaS platform designed specifically for digital banking, paired with Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma Cloud. Prisma Cloud played a key role in securing the bank’s cloud infrastructure, offering capabilities such as misconfiguration monitoring, risk detection, remediation and compliance management. Together, these technologies provide a unified and efficient approach to managing security in a complex cloud environment.

The future of modern banking is all about security

As digital transformation accelerates across the financial sector, companies must keep security at the top of their agenda. Whilst innovating is key to keeping up with evolving trends and changing customer expectations, it can’t be done without prioritising security. If security isn’t embedded in every layer of an organisation’s digital infrastructure, vulnerabilities may be introduced within the system and easily exploited by malicious actors. And once cyber attackers are in the system, everyone knows it can lead to chaos.

But security isn’t just for defensive purposes, it’s also a strategic advantage. In a climate of growing digital distrust, the most secure bank doesn’t just win compliance, it also wins customers. By choosing to turn advanced security into a visible product feature, not just an internal practice, banks can build marketable trust and differentiate from fintech challengers who may cut corners in pursuit of speed.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2021 Futures Parity.