Financial Technology, an exciting upcoming industry
Financial technology, more commonly known as FinTech, is transforming the way money changes hands. The term refers to all technological innovation within the financial sector. FinTech is changing the way in which people borrow and save, purchase foreign exchange, send money and the way in which individuals and businesses pay and buy, amongst others. FinTech is an industry that shows exciting prospects both today and in the future.
There are huge market forces driving FinTech, which has proven to be one of the strongest sectors not only within the technological sector, but also within the economy. Demand is extremely high as customers choose to move away from the frustration of traditional big banks with exceedingly structured regulations to embracing the idea of FinTech with better use of data and effortless customer experience. Thanks to a rise in mobile technology and an on-demand economy, the world today is far more connected, making individuals and businesses feel more comfortable managing their money online.
Spain’s FinTech sector is dragging behind other countries, and so, The Association of Financial Technology Companies was created in order to strengthen the upcoming industry within Spain. The purpose of the association is to not only build upon the idea of FinTech in Spain, but also prevent foreign companies from eating into the local market, as current barriers to entry are low. Therefore, it is vital at this moment for Spain to improve its competitiveness.
Law firms are using high-tech services to aid their work and the reasons are clear. Lawyers are becoming more aware that digital tools can make their own work more efficient by speeding up lengthy, repetitive and tiresome tasks. New technology can also highlight errors, which reduces time and costs, benefiting both the lawyer and the client. At a time where marginal competitive advantages are vital to firms, firms are embracing new technologies into their work life. Lawyers can benefit from having better ways to deal with enormous masses of information or even cloud computing where employees can share and store documents online. Take the Global Merger Analysis Platform (GMAP). GMAP has changed the way many law firms handle the M&A process for their clients by allowing lawyers to offer detailed analysis of key risks involved in M&A deals within hours instead of before where it could have taken many days, which is costly. GMAP can answer in depth questions on merger control law in around 120 jurisdictions. It also provides access to real time data, which means more depth and legal certainty than any other existing tool on the market. Tools like GMAP can eliminate much of the work left to junior lawyers. Law firms can truly benefit from the implementation of FinTech, as they have done with other high-tech services such as GMAP.
Soon law firms, if they implement new technology correctly, could be far smaller entities as the complex work is left to computers.
Jade Edment & Karl H. Lincke
