The deep integration of fintech and industry is becoming a new area that almost all players are working on.Different from the first half of fintech, which merely regarded the industry as the ultimate pursuit of C-terminal traffic similar to the Internet era, now fintech players want to achieve new development and breakthrough through deep integration with the industry.To me, this is the truest look of fintech in the true sense of the word.
In the past, fintech was often viewed as a mere presence similar to Internet finance.The so-called fintech is just a technology as a cloak, with finance as the essence of the existence.Although the name of fintech has changed, its essence has not changed much fundamentally.It has to be said that the support of fintech can indeed help players avoid the regulation of Internet finance. However, in order to achieve a more long-term development, it is necessary to achieve breakthroughs from more dimensions.If I summarize such a breakthrough, I would like to put it down to finding the commonalities between “finance” and “science and technology”, especially the basic aspects of “finance” and “science and technology”, so that fintech is no longer just a superficial existence, but can be deeply integrated with the industry.Starting from this, the development of fintech can jump out of the past development logic and enter a completely new stage of development.
Fintech players have long been reluctant to participate in the actual operation of the industry, preferring to simply sit on top of the industry and simply buy and sell traffic.In terms of their own positioning and nature, they are more willing to define themselves as a platform or middleman, they just want to do the business of matchmaking and intermediary.It has to be said that with the accumulation of players in the Internet era, it is indeed possible to obtain a lot of development dividends in matchmaking and intermediary.However, if only the essence of fintech is defined as matchmaking and intermediation, then it is not much different from Internet finance.On the surface, fintech can indeed raise the efficiency of upstream and downstream financial connection to a whole new level.However, if we only blindly emphasize efficiency and scale without truly recognizing the essential connotation and significance of fintech, the so-called development will inevitably fall into a dead end similar to Internet finance when the efficiency improvement brought by fintech cannot bear the financial risks it magnifies.
To break through such a development bottleneck, we need to define fintech with a new connotation. We need to see fintech not just as a platform and center, but as a new existence.In searching for the fundamentals of both “finance” and “technology”, players have found a new essence of fintech, and one such essence is a new infrastructure.Such a new type of infrastructure is neither a similar existence to finance in a simple sense nor a similar existence to science and technology in a simple sense, but a existence that combines the characteristics of both finance and technology elements and has a new evolution on the basis of traditional finance and technology.In my opinion, the commonality of “finance” and “technology” — the digital aspect — is the fundamental reason why fintech can serve as a new infrastructure.
How to make use of the commonness of digitalization to integrate the development of fintech into the whole industrial development;How to make use of the commonness of digitalization to deepen the development of fintech into the details of industrial development has become the key to determine whether the functions and roles of fintech can be given full play, and whether fintech can truly get out of the mire of Internet finance.
New business models, the foundation of fintech Every new species, there must be a business model to match.The same is true for fintech.When it goes back to basics and embraces the industry, it becomes the new development direction of fintech.It must find an innovative business model that really suits it.In a sense, new business models are the foundation of fintech and the key to its rapid development.
As we all know, in the Internet era, the business model of Internet finance is in fact a classic business model dominated by platforms and centers.In the sky of such a business model, if the players of Internet finance want to obtain sustainable development, it is inevitable that they need to constantly expand their scale, constantly extend their boundaries, and constantly improve their matching efficiency.As a result, we see the emergence of various new financial products derived from the Internet financial model.After all, the business model in the era of Internet finance is still dominated by matchmaking and intermediaries.Even in the first half of fintech, we still see business models dominated by matchmaking and intermediaries.When fintech goes back to basics and the embrace industry becomes mainstream, we will inevitably need to find a business model to match.In my opinion, new business models are the foundation of fintech.
So what is the business model of fintech?In my opinion, the business model of symbiosis and coexistence is the business model of fintech.Under such a business model, the real test of players will no longer be profit space based on the logic of scale and efficiency, but more test is to ensure the risk and efficiency of finance and technology itself, on the premise of industrial innovation and change and efficiency improvement on the basis of the possibility of profit.To be more precise, fintech players need to go to the front line of the industry to really solve the pain points and problems of industrial development, and on this basis find more new development space and profit possibility.In this process, fintech players’ profits are realized not by simply matching and intermediating, but by empowering and transforming the industry.This requires fintech players to bring real changes to the industry, and the amount of change is directly related to the profit space of fintech players.When the new business model becomes the primary driving force for the development of fintech, its development can truly enter a new stage of development, and it can completely get rid of the shadow and stumbling block of Internet finance.
One of the most important reasons why Internet finance is stuck in a dead end is that it does not change the nature of finance, but only transfers the way of connecting the upstream and downstream from offline to online.This is true even in the first half of fintech.Fintech players still only use the Internet to connect the upstream and downstream of finance to the extreme, but do not really change the financial industry itself.To put it simply, their form of expression has not changed fundamentally.While the form of finance has not changed fundamentally, what we see is that a revolution is taking place in the industry it supports.Whether it is for the Internet players, or for the traditional industry players, it is so.In a word, the expression form of Internet players is no longer purely virtual as the main body, and the expression form of traditional players is no longer purely physical as the main body, which is undoubtedly a major aspect.
Generally speaking, the combination of virtual and real is becoming the mainstream and direction of industrial development.In the future, it will be difficult to define Internet players and traditional industry players in the strict sense of virtual economy and real economy.In the context of the evolution of the industrial form, we also need to carry out a thorough reform of the two elements of “finance” and “technology”, and we also need to carry out a thorough reform of the form of fintech.If I were to summarize the current form of fintech, I would prefer to define it as digital form.This is almost as true from a “financial” perspective as it is from a “technology” perspective.Now, the way we see “finance” is beginning to take on more of a digital aspect, whether it is digital money, digital elements, or digital processes, almost all of them.The same is happening on the “tech” side.When it comes to “technology”, it is difficult to define it in the traditional and classical sense of Internet technology.What it’s starting to show more is the technological side of digital.Big data technology derived from the Internet, blockchain technology and artificial intelligence technology are almost all new forms of “science and technology”.
In the context of profound evolution of both “finance” and “science and technology”, the form of fintech also needs to undergo a profound and thorough change.It can be said that the change of the external manifestation of fintech is directly related to whether it has evolved.According to my understanding, the future fintech is also a form that combines both virtual and physical.In such a new form, fintech can meet the needs of industrial development and truly enter a new stage of development.
Conclusion
A new revolution in fintech is taking place.If a summary is made of such a new revolution, it is undoubtedly an important direction of the evolution of fintech to return to the basics and the bottom layer and embrace industries and entities. It is also the “new outfit” of fintech.Under such a broad direction, we are seeing a profound and radical change in fintech itself.This is the beginning of a new generation of fintech.