Fintech. It’s 2017 and already the term is as accepted as ‘bank card’ and ‘mobile wallet’. It is the title granted to the financial disruptor and innovator; to the entrepreneur and startup that relooks payments and possibilities to create alternatives that leapfrog the traditional queue and card and replaces them with seamless solutions. It is also a space where everyone wants to play – competition is fierce, consumers are feisty and banks are watching.

Towards the end of 2016, Gartner predicted that by 2019, 50% of consumers will be paying with their wearable devices or smartphones. Forrester has estimated that in the US alone, mobile payments will be 2.6 times their 2015 value by 2019. In China, these expectations have already been surpassed as third-party mobile payment value hit $5.5 trillion in 2016. The future of payments is far from settled as sprightly startups and stable big business compete for attention and innovation across crowded markets and consumers.