The Future of Finance: The Socialization of Finance

20 Mar The Future of Finance: The Socialization of Finance

Goldman Sachs Group published an equity research report titled The Future of Finance: The Socialization of Finance focuses on the ongoing evolution of the banking industry and financial markets. “Technology and an increasingly social consumer are democratizing access to funds and services beyond the walls of financial institutions. With millennials as important agents of change, new business models for crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, socialized payments, and automated investing are rising to take market share from existing banking channels.”

Technology is driving fundamental changes to financial markets

Social networks, Big Data, mobile accessibility, and new funding and marketing models are creating a bevy of financial services firms that can offer useful new services to consumers at lower costs. The GS analysts point out that these technologies are still in their infancy, but will develop in the near future as access to data grows, computing power increases, and access speeds hit new records.

Social consumers demanding more from the financial industry

Consumers today demand greater transparency, ease of use, 24/7 access and automation. Millennials are driving change, but all generations are demanding greater transparency, convenience (and returns), forcing the banking industry to adapt. Terry et al. note that this process is also still unfolding, and anticipate that today’s new features and services will soon become part of the basic minimum that consumers expect.

Here’s the complete report