Getting a customer to place their private data — and their money — in your FinTech app requires an incredible amount of trust on their part. For the convenience of being able to use your service, they hand over personally identifiable information such as payment information, financial history, bank account login details, Social Security numbers, and much more. In short, customers hand over the keys to their accounts.

In return, your company will know what the customer spends on or invests in, how much they save or consume, how often they get paid, and any number of variables depending on what type of FinTech service your company provides. And depending on what software is used in your company, that could mean customer data is shared with third-party services in order to score, rate, or rank customers in anything from loan applications to job interviews.

How to fix data privacy

1. Adhere to Security Best Practices
Best practices had better include writing secure code, using encryption, using only authorized APIs, exercising caution in the usage of third-party code libraries, only storing crucial information, and forcing the use of complex passwords or 2-Factor Authentication. The point is: data privacy begins with the first line of code written for an app and extends to how you store and access customer data.

2. Create better collaborations in the Industry
None of this will work without industry stakeholders teaming up to improve both the guidelines and the technical standards that govern the access and storage of consumer data in the financial services vertical. The idea is to build a more secure, more unified experience for the end-user — whether you’re their bank, insurance app, budgeting app, mobile payment service, or blockchain app.

3. Educate Your Users & Give Them Control
From a customer-facing standpoint, there has to be an increased effort to educate users and make them aware of how your FinTech software or app works. In short, tell them how your software or app accesses, collects, stores use, and shares their personal and financial data.

Sure, this is all laid out in your user agreement, privacy policy, terms of service, and security documents. But seriously, who reads those? Busy customers don’t have the time or the desire to do so. You’ll have to be purposeful about teaching them about what you do using slick marketing tactics and omnichannel strategies — content marketing, social media, emails, website, notifications, and whatever other channels your audience uses.

Because for many regular users, financial technology is a mystery. But the fact that they’re using your services means they’re willing to step into your world and use your services, and may want to learn more about it. Use layman’s terms then to teach them about:

• What they should do to keep their accounts safe and secure
• What security you have in place to protect customer data
• What type of data your FinTech software collects
• Whether their data is sold or shared with other companies, and why
• What a user can do to control the collection of data

Customers have pretty straightforward expectations when it comes to data privacy. Basically, they want to be able to control access to their information.

4. Rally for Secure APIs
Within the FinTech industry, there is room for better and more widespread usage of secure APIs (application programming interfaces). In simplest terms, instead of a user logging into his bank account in order to permit a FinTech app to use it for payment, secure APIs could be set up between the bank and the FinTech service allowing a user to control which software or apps can access their bank account. And therefore, no need to let yet another software or app know what your username or password combination is.

But in order for these secure APIs to be created and work seamlessly, you will need a team effort from all involved, which brings us to the last element.

• What are digital assets
• How to identify digital assets
• How to protect and secure critical digital assets

According to Gartner, a digital asset is anything stored digitally and uniquely identifiable that organizations can use to realize value. Examples of digital assets include documents, audio, videos, logos, slide presentations, spreadsheets, and websites. The main difference between digital assets and physical assets is that physical assets are tangible while digital assets are not, although fully owned and controlled by the company.

As a company, you need to understand what qualifies as a digital asset both internally and externally. These can include imagery, customer database, applications, digital content, and social media among others. Let me break them down further;

Imagery
These include photos, videos, and illustrations that your company owns and/or through its processes such as marketing images, product-related photos, illustrated workflows documentation, Registered Company Intellectual Property, and others.

Customer database
A customer database is a collection of information that includes lead contact details like a person’s first and last names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. If you have an email database, it’s a digital asset.

Applications
Company applications that have been developed by your company, whether for customer or internal use, are valuable digital assets.

Digital content
Your company’s website, including its domain name, articles or blog posts within the website are all digital assets. It’s important to license all-important digital assets owned by your company such that third-party use will require consent for full ownership of your content.

Social media
These include your company’s social media accounts, pages, posts, and the content therein the posts. We are talking about Facebook updates, tweets, Instagram posts, and even LinkedIn presence are all under the social media category of a digital asset.

Registered Company Intellectual Property
Any intellectual property your company has developed that exists in a digital format is considered an asset that can be sold. Examples of this include company logos, any copyrighted material or trademarked digital material such as photographs or imagery, and any existing company patents for digital processes or other innovations.

How to protect your company’s digital assets
The protection of digital assets starts with understanding what your company’s digital assets are. Ensure that you undertake a survey of your business with a view to identifying what your digital assets are – don’t potentially overlook something that may actually be a valuable asset.

Here are 5 ways to protect your company’s digital assets:

1. Have a full and complete understanding of all of your company’s assets.
As a reminder, digital assets include your company’s website, social media presence, appropriate customer information and client lists (with email addresses and contact information), plus proprietary digital business processes, apps, photos, videos and imagery, and any intellectual property (material that is under copyright, trademarks, and patents). Begin by listing all of your company’s possible digital assets, including those we described above, so that you have a comprehensive picture of your complete digital asset inventory.

2. Limit Access and Follow Best Practices
A fundamental step in how to protect digital assets is restricting access to digital assets and systems to reduce the risk of loss or theft. Make sure to limit access to digital assets and systems to only those employees that actually need to use them. Authorized users of these systems should be employing data security best practices including password protection and authentication, and being careful when using personal devices and other risk factors. You can also reduce your company’s susceptibility to cybersecurity threats by taking steps to prevent data breaches.

3. Use Protective Agreements
Protect your digital assets through your employee and team member agreements, and those with third parties who may need to access your information. Companies should have employees, freelancers, clients, and consultants sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to protect their digital assets. Asking partners and team members to commit to confidentiality also functions as a helpful reminder about the importance of the digital data that they have access. The agreement underscores for people that digital assets are important and must be handled with care!

4. Keep Data Secure
Having strong information security is essential for keeping digital assets protected. Hackers exploit security loopholes and weaknesses, and one way to prevent this is for companies to make sure that their operating systems and any other licensed and cloud-based applications are up to date. Team training about online hackers and scammers to deter social engineering like phishing is just as important for keeping confidential data secure. Take advantage of the security features of enterprise-level applications including two-factor authentication, which provides an extra layer of protection for your company and employees against hackers. Google, Slack, and Salesforce are all examples of large companies that offer clients and users two-factor authentication.

Using secure Wi-Fi is also important for keeping digital assets safe. Make sure your company follows Wi-Fi data security best practices. Routers should be stored in a physically secure location. Regularly change your Wi-Fi network name, enable the firewall, and regularly update the firmware and software. Some routers also provide options for encrypting data, and you should take advantage of that if it’s a feature that your service provider offers.

5. Back It Up
Having a solid redundancy plan in place for your digital assets is critical. Protect digital assets with a reliable backup plan, and perhaps even a backup for the backup!

Conclusion
Companies need to manage and maintain their digital assets safely and securely. You need to build a proper system to protect your company’s digital assets. Knowing how to protect digital assets for the short- and long-term is important for your company’s complete valuation and overall bottom line.

Payment automation infrastructures are becoming a major product among innovative companies with a penchant for technologically revolutionary solutions. But what are the main attraction points of businesses to warrant such growth among FinTech solution providers?

Here are some.

1. Access to More Resources
FinTech companies create algorithms and ecosystems for businesses to accept payment for trades and services in the most seamless way possible. As such, it’s safe to conclude that FinTech innovation is one of the major growth drivers for businesses.

With their incredible intuition, enterprises and startups alike get an array of resources, distribution channels, and investment platforms. For example, you need an electronic payment technology to purchase a product or service on the internet; thus, the crux of the e-commerce process involves an instant payment application, without which a successful transaction can’t take place.

Unlike traditional banks, the financial technology sector’s low entry threshold has made the industry an easy ground for businesses of all types to thrive. Using open banking APIs, non-banking companies can quickly form partnerships with vendors and launch a working solution.

With an apt knowledge of creating a FinTech product, anyone can successfully own a thriving product in this niche.

2. Business Process Optimization
A 2019 Deloitte survey shows that businesses that use digitized financial services are three times more likely to experience revenue growth.

By owning a FinTech product, you’re helping to improve many organizations’ proficiency and growth by systematically streamlining financial transaction and investment processes.

Today, adopting new financial technologies does not require radical infrastructure transformation or significant investment. At low cost, businesses can adopt an easy payment process and enjoy the top-notch optimization that comes with it.

3. Better Retention Rate for Businesses
A common goal of FinTech innovators is to deliver a personalized user experience in the financial sector. It’s the major crux of FinTech astronomical growth over the years. A Kearney study of challenger banks corroborated this point as it shows that ease of use is a major selling point for FinTech products.

By adapting some generic and industry-specific FinTech products, businesses can give their customers a more impressive purchasing experience, thus leading to a much better customer retention rate. A report that gives credence to this notion is the Global App Trends Report; it says that 18% of FinTech users return at day 7 and 12% at day 30 (compared to the all-verticals average of 15% and 8% for the same days).

Aside from improving customer retention through convenience and speed, FinTech also provides customers with personalized experiences through AI and Big Data. This helps businesses to offer services and products to clients through their past purchases and financial standing.

Conclusion
Fintech in business has given rise to a lot of opportunities. The innovations have made it possible for them to introduce new and cost-effective products and services. Other important technologies such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, etc are playing their roles in supporting fintech in business.

Yo! Uganda Limited is currently enabling Financial Institutions to reduce costs by accepting deposits from their customers directly from their Mobile Money wallets and transmitting withdrawals directly to their Mobile Money wallets.

We can speak of branchless banking advantages from two perspectives: the customers and service providers.

Business perspective:
Investing in cashless banking can bring a huge payoff for the business. Branchless solutions don’t require investing in building and supplying new bank departments. Therefore, they are not so high-priced. A bank can invest saved resources in developing new products, additional digital services, or improving existing ones.

Branchless banking facilitates reaching out to new customers from various, sometimes hard-accessible locations. Thus, not only can a bank save money, but at the same time welcome more clients into the fold.

Investing in branchless banking solutions can keep your business ahead of the competition. As the world is moving forward – banks should too. To stay relevant in the financial market, it is essential to follow current trends and respond to new, every time more exacting needs of your clients.

Customer perspective:
Customers can enjoy seamless transactions that can be performed from any place in the world as long as they have a good internet connection. Whether you are a city businessman or a rural area locator – the way you bank can be much more convenient.

Online banking services are usually easy and intuitive. What was a complicated process can now be completed with a few taps on the phone screen. Thus, even if you don’t feel too confident with digital apps, you should be able to learn in no time how to master them.

Branchless banking gives customers the convenience of transacting using multiple avenues such as voucher less top-up, loan settlements, cardless withdrawals, cash deposits, money transfers, tax and bill payments, etc. Financial institutions that rely on biometric verifications should be cautious in times of outbreak. And branchless banking resolves this issue by using OTPs and sharing virtual transaction receipts with customers via email or SMS.

Conclusion
There is no doubt that virtual banking has revolutionized the financial industry, and it is going to develop even further in the future. Innovative distribution channels with the perspective of customer convenience are going to emerge. Because of this, the operators will soon compete with each other for their space in the next-level agency banking space. The future looks extremely promising!

FinTech industry overview
Fintech is a portmanteau of the terms “finance” and “technology” and refers to any business that uses technology to enhance or automate financial services and processes. The term encompasses a rapidly growing industry that serves the interests of both consumers and businesses in multiple ways. From mobile banking and insurance to investment apps, FinTech has a seemingly endless array of applications.

The industry is huge — and will continue to expand for years to come. One driving factor is that many traditional banks are supporters and adopters of the technology, actively investing in, acquiring or partnering with FinTech startups because it is easier to give digitally-minded customers what they want, while also moving the industry forward and staying relevant.

We have classified the benefits that set FinTech businesses apart into four categories:

1. Speed
In today’s fast-paced world, waiting for an international payment to go through, or for a bank to grant a loan can sometimes take what feels like forever. That is why FinTech companies rely on efficiency to set themselves apart. Where traditional banks rely on age-old processes and multilayer checking, FinTech innovations such as the use of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and automation work towards speeding up processes. The advancements of FinTech make it possible to process applications and approvals much faster than traditional banks, which results in a better overall user experience. But speed also means accessibility and another benefit of FinTech is its convenience.

2. Convenience
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the rapid rise of FinTech. Given FinTech companies heavily rely on the Internet and mobile connectivity, they came out as one of the big winners of the pandemic. Their high level of connectivity allows them to reach a wide audience and allows their audience to reach them at the touch of a button. The flexibility they offer in terms of time and location makes them entirely adaptable to their clients’ needs. While traditional banks tend to rely on in-branch appointments that demand patience on the part of the client, some FinTech firms use chatbots, making them easily accessible 24/7 and in many languages. Today, customers look for convenience in every aspect of their lives and FinTech firms have learned to meet this need far quicker than traditional banks.

3. Transparency
Today’s consumers are wary of unexpected fees which is why FinTech firms believe in laying out all their cards upfront. When it comes to payments, transparency also means better visibility regarding payment timeframes and the progress of transactions. Today, people are used to track where things are, whether it’s parcels or food. Naturally, they expect the same level of transparency from their banks.

4. Price
Whether it’s currency conversion rates, processing fees, or commissions, FinTech businesses know that users today are particularly attentive to costs. That is why they offer payment solutions that include as few extra costs as possible and a competitive overall price. FinTech innovations often make it possible to offer lower prices to consumers and businesses compared to traditional banks. Having better visibility of the various costs incurred may represent considerable savings for a company.

Conclusion
The future of FinTech is bright. While the benefits of FinTech have never been so evident, partnerships between FinTech businesses and banks are the most likely outcome for the future and offer the best of both worlds. Fintech brings flexibility, agility, and innovation while conventional banks, as well-established, trusted institutions, provide a stable environment and can make use of vast amounts of customer data. With conventional banks able to provide a sound and trustworthy environment, and FinTech firms banking on their niche expertise, the financial service landscape of the future will undoubtedly require the two industries to work hand in hand.

What do FinTech companies do?
FinTech is the abbreviated form of Financial Technology is a range of financial services software that is used by companies to automate traditional financial methods. For instance, for us as Yo! Uganda Limited, our services include merchant payments, bulk payments, branchless banking, mobile banking, mobile VAS, and custom software development.

How FinTech Companies Help a Startup Grow?
FinTech companies develop technologies that allow business owners to manage and control actions like accepting payments, paying bills, and using other financial services to their advantage. Earlier with the lack of these technologies and other facilities provided by FinTech, startups didn’t have many ways to grow their businesses.

Furthermore, they only had banks as a source of capital which was used to look for the credibility and the scope of these companies in the future market. This made the process more complex and difficult for a company that is in its initial stage. With the FinTech solutions in the market, startups now have more options and ways in which they can work towards growth.

Importance of FinTech Companies
However, it is hard for startups to grow and make a reputation in today’s world with all the competition and a large number of startups launching every year. Hence, it is important for them to opt for ways that bring ease to their functioning and help them grow effectively/efficiently. FinTech companies play a major role in this. Mentioned below are some of the importance of the presence of FinTech solutions in the (modern) market;

• Anyone having an internet connection can access FinTech solutions all over the world
• FinTech solutions are comparatively cheaper than their counterparts
• Moreover, the usage of various technologies makes the process in a company automated
• Furthermore, these systems are flexible in nature as they do not demand too many documents and they provide lending to new and very small businesses
• Also, the use of modern technologies adds to the reason startups choose them
• Henceforth, FinTech companies provide a better customer experience

Conclusion
FinTech companies ease the process of managing a business by using automation technologies, less documentation, providing lending, expense tracking and invoicing, usage of various tools, and by providing a range of FinTech products and services. These services help startups to grow.

One of the industries most heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic was hospitality and tourism. After years of steady growth, the pandemic’s travel restrictions and quarantine measures caused these sectors to face a decrease of 73% in arrivals between 2020 and 2021. The World Tourism Organization recognized 2020 as the worst year in tourism history. The hospitality industry was hit hard. Millions of people who depended on the tourist influx were left without a source of income.

One thing for sure is that FinTech remains pivotal in helping reduce costs while continuously elevating the customer experience. Here are a few points to note:

• Fintech can solve the expense headache: Fintech-enabled solutions can have a positive impact on the future of business travel, aiding organizations that currently deal with monitoring and reducing expenses. Fintech automation can drive cost savings while also increasing productivity among employees.

• Fintech can solve the expense headache: Fintech-enabled solutions can have a positive impact on the future of business travel, aiding organizations that currently deal with monitoring and reducing expenses. Fintech automation can drive cost savings while also increasing productivity among employees.

• Fintech can solve the expense headache: Fintech-enabled solutions can have a positive impact on the future of business travel, aiding organizations that currently deal with monitoring and reducing expenses. Fintech automation can drive cost savings while also increasing productivity among employees.

Conclusion
The changing expectations of end-users at a time when the travel industry is bouncing back from unprecedented restrictions means operators and agencies need to understand the importance of adopting the latest FinTech solutions. With the help of a trusted payment partner, travel and hospitality businesses have a unique opportunity to apply the most efficient FinTech solutions to minimize cart abandonment, enhance conversion and provide a frictionless payment experience.

Massive innovation also happens in the finance sector, including payment systems whose recent innovation is in the form of digital payments. With such a platform, people no longer need to pay using cash or a card. Payments can be made by only using a cellular/internet connection and a smartphone, known as a cloud- or server-based payment system. This system has several advantages over electronic money–based cards; it can store data and transaction records over the internet (cloud-based). If the sim card or hand phone used as an e-wallet is lost, the electronic money stored in it is not necessarily lost as long as access to the sim card is regained. If the money-based electronic card is lost, then the electronic money stored cannot be obtained again.

Digital payments have immense potential to be widely used in Uganda as over 40 million people in the country, 49% of whom have smartphone or tablet devices that use the internet. Furthermore, the majority (12.169%) of internet users in Uganda are between 19 and 34 years, generally technology literate, and highly mobile (Data Reportal)). Such a high potential market has encouraged the perpetrators of the financial industry to innovate to meet the needs of consumers who require payment systems to be more efficient, practical, instant (one-touch payment), and secure. Digital payments also have a wide room to be used in Uganda as the majority of its society still relies on cash in making payments.

In Uganda, the majority of retail transactions are still paid in cash, leaving the country behind its neighbors in Kenya and Tanzania.

Furthermore, digital payments do not only benefit individuals but also positively affect the development of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Below, we have pointed out some benefits to MSMEs of digital payments systems:

(i) Safer and faster payment. Digital payments can reduce transaction costs as paper-based payment involves manual processes and takes many steps to complete.

(ii) Better customer experience. Unlike paper-based payment that requires customers to bring cash everywhere, with an e-wallet, they only need to bring their mobile phone. It is more convenient for customers as making payment takes only one click. Customers also do not have to provide several denominations to pay an exact amount; sometimes getting small denominations of money is quite cumbersome.

(iii) Increased transparency and well-managed bookkeeping. Every payment transaction using digital payments is automatically recorded on the server. Therefore, without manual recording, MSMEs can access their transaction record and have neat and accurate bookkeeping.

(iv) Deliver competitive advantage. As payment becomes borderless, MSMEs can access overseas markets through the digital payments platform used globally. MSMEs can also create value-added services, such as customer loyalty programs/rewards since they can analyze their customers’ profiles and behavior like their spending profile and behavior.

Conclusion
However, although digital payments benefit MSMEs, still, in the case of Uganda, there is still limited research in investigating the impact of digital payments on MSMEs’ businesses

1. Custom software development requires quality developers, effort, and time, making planning for your business needs highly important.

2. As noted earlier, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized solutions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

3. According to Stackify, around 17.7% of companies expressed that continuous performance and load testing management is one of the major challenges faced by the development team.

4. The average custom software development project takes between 4 and 12 months to complete, depending on the complexity.

Conclusion
You know your customer’s needs better than others, and the customer is everything to your business. Identify target customer trends, and develop application software that addresses those trends whenever possible. More personalized customer experiences generate higher customer satisfaction for your business. Whenever your budget and business can afford it, take advantage of custom software development to better engage with your customers and generate greater loyalty.

Below are some of the benefits that custom software provides to every industry and organization.

1. Personalized Solution
Every customer or user wants to feel their interaction with a business is personal. Feeling like you’re being treated as an individual is a significant factor in customer satisfaction. A company that provides more personalized solutions adds value to the business/customer relationship. Such added value generates customer loyalty and extends customer retention.

2. Flexibility & Scalability
Businesses can make changes anytime to customized software as per the needs of the business. And if you’re smart, scalability will be one feature flagged as necessary in your initial project scope. Off-the-shelf applications, on the other hand, cannot be manipulated at will. And if you do change anything, you’ll likely violate your licensing agreement with your off-the-shelf software providers, making it impossible to continue maintenance and usability of the application.

3. Unique Solution that Belongs to Your Business Only
The biggest reason for developing custom software is your company wants to own the solution. Businesses can operate the software functions, data, developing methodologies, etc. With customized software, businesses can make changes anytime they want, add important information and implement feedback from customers. Creating an interactive relationship improves the credibility and stickiness of your business with customers.

4. Customer Satisfaction
Mckinsey statistics say that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized solutions, and 76% get frustrated when businesses don’t. Knowing the impact of a personalized user experience, the development of custom software is really important for customer satisfaction.

5. Security
Off-the-shelf software is generally easier to hack because most use open-source code. Hackers and attackers are already aware of the vulnerabilities of such software, whereas custom-developed software is a closed-source project and is only used by your team. Hence, the chances of intrusions are minimized.

Tip: In addition to commissioning custom software, some owners design mobile apps for their businesses to help customers shop and stay on top of company events.