The Fintech Sector Has Never Been More Exciting, and Zero Trust, Blockchain, and VR Will Define Its Future

Zero Trust network architecture, blockchain, cloud native platforms, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are just some of the latest technologies that are expected to change payment methods in the next five to seven years. At least that is the belief of the innovators at Mastercard’s technology center in Dublin, who demonstrated last week what online shopping might look like one day, how fintech helps customers and businesses, and held brief lectures on how they envision the future of payments.

– By 2030, 80 percent of financial companies will have to lock their doors if they do not embrace the changes that come with new technology – this was the data that opened the one-day press conference in Dublin.

The creation of digital money, providing an experience with the product, and sustainability are the future of the economy, said Mastercard’s Director of Innovation Ken Moore. Explaining the creation of digital money, Moore stated that there will be a tokenization of the world, the adoption of comprehensive digital wallets that will combine all forms of assets an individual owns in one place, and through the merging of technologies, the existing boundaries will be removed, allowing individuals to access their finances anytime and anywhere, whether it is paying for a tram ticket, coffee in a café, or clothing in stores.

However, physical stores could one day disappear as innovators are currently working on an application that will enable VR shopping. This is an application that could one day combine all household needs in one place, allowing its users to shop effortlessly, as according to the test version, the application features the user’s avatar that ‘tries on’ desired clothing, tracks consumption, and shows the carbon footprint of a particular purchase.

Artificial Intelligence Combats Fraud

In addition to the VR application, they also demonstrated their ‘Tap On Phone’ application at the educational and interesting conference, which allows businesses to accept payments from any contactless card or digital wallet via mobile phone, thanks to NFC technology.

– What we do today will define our tomorrow. It has never been more exciting to work in the technology sector because all new technologies create opportunities, but they also have their threats, so we must be cautious – stated Ed McLaughlin, Mastercard’s Director of Technology, who emphasized that everything starts with trust and that they are extremely committed to combating any fraud using artificial intelligence.

Although no one can define exactly what will happen in the future, whether we will completely move away from traditional payment methods and turn only to digital wallets, Moore, in response to a journalist’s question, said that the most important thing right now is to give people a choice.

– Some want to use BNPL services, some cryptocurrencies, and some traditional payments. The most important thing is to provide users with everything, and they can decide which services they want and which they do not – explained Moore.

A very important topic in the modern tech hub in Dublin was also financial literacy, or rather its lack. How can you teach someone to run if they do not even know how to walk, or how can you enable someone to access the latest innovations in financial technology if they know very little about finances?

Representatives of the card company emphasized the importance of education due to this problem. They all claim to volunteer and give their time to organize various forms of education on financial literacy and general literacy, but it is a global problem that cannot disappear overnight.