Financial technology is changing how we shop, bank, invest, and manage every aspect of our financial lives. With new innovations in Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, big data, and biometrics, FinTech is in a position to continue to change the way we manage our finances and disrupt sectors that have traditionally resisted digital innovation.

As FinTech continues to evolve, these are some of the technology trends you should be keeping an eye on.

FinTech in Real Estate

Of the industries that make up finance, insurance, and real estate, real estate is often the one with the biggest single impact on a family's financial health and lifestyle. While FinTech continues to change the banking world, it's also finding its way into industries like real estate.

One way that FinTech is changing real estate is through smart contracts. Working with a real estate agent and buying a home typically involves a lot of paperwork. It can take a lot of time and unnecessary fees to manually confirm that the conditions have been met and complete the terms of the contract, such as registering a property.

That's changing with the introduction of smart contracts, something already being done bydigital marketplace Nobul. While Nobul's focus is on changing the way consumers find and hire real estate agents, it's increasingly improving the way real estate transactions are done. One way they've done that is the introduction of smart contracts using IBM's Hyperledger.

Founder and CEO Regan McGee explained the drive to make the real estate world more efficient and affordable in an interview with BNN Bloomberg:

"You have full transparency. This is what people are demanding these days, especially Millennials. They want information, they want transparency, they want it tech-enabled. We are very disruptive and we're disruptive to the whole industry. ... The big brokerage owners and the big agents have seen the light, and they're actively involved with our company."

Non-Traditional and Digital Banking

COVID-19 delivered a big blow to Main Streets around the world, and the banking sector wasn't immune. Worldwide, the pandemic pushed banks out of branches and onto online platforms.

As more physical branches shut down, the demands put on digital and mobile banking have become even more complex and now include:

• Photocheck deposit

• Peer-to-peer transfers

• Automated or digital loan approvals

• Tax and bill payments

• Investing

Increasingly, customers are open to the idea of dealing with non-traditional, digital-only banks, as more and more of their day-to-day banking can be done securely and straight from their phones.

Biometric Security

As fraud becomes both more common and more sophisticated, the need for more advanced verification techniques grows. Biometric security such as facial recognition software and voice analysis is increasingly being used to simplify account access without compromising security.

Voice-Enabled Payments

Mobile payments have already made significant leaps, fuelled by the desire for a cash-free, touch-free post-pandemic world. Voice-enabled technology is taking things one step further, tapping into smartphone voice recognition technology to do their digital banking with digital assistants like Siri and Amazon Alexa.

Voice-enabled payments should soon be employed for contactless payments. They should also make it much easier in the near future for the visually impaired to participate in the cash-free economy.