Berivan Demir, Product and Banking Relationship Director of Clear Junction
It will be hard for people to shake their original perception of the metaverse. Introduced late last year by already unpopular figure Mark Zuckerberg, the renaming of Facebook to Meta seemed like a desperate attempt to shrug off the negative connotations associated with the brand.
While decentralised technologies are still met with scepticism and cynicism by the general public, their potential applications throughout business and finance are being explored as serious investment opportunities by both established institutions and disruptive start-ups looking to make their mark. The early adopters of any innovative technologies are the largest benefactors of their success, and with the meteoric rise of decentralised technologies like cryptocurrency and NFTs in the past decade, the race to carve out a niche in the metaverse is firmly on.
Metanomic regulations
As technology progresses and VR headsets become more readily available, the metaverse has the potential to completely change the way that the general public digitally operates. Some tier 1 banks have been acquiring land in the metaverse and forming relationships with businesses that are metaverse-friendly in preparation for the market’s expected growth. Forecasts even suggest the market could reach a value of $1.5 trillion by 2029. From a bank’s perspective, new, decentralised technologies have always been viewed as risky due to the regulatory hurdles within the finance sector, but this is one of the primary areas where fintech can help banks quickly acclimatise to this new channel.
Regulation often fails to keep up with technological advancements by several years, at which point it will be too late for banks to become early adopters in this space. For those looking to maximise the metaverse’s opportunities, fintechs are unconstrained by the many regulatory requirements that typically restrict banks and other financial institutions, making them the perfect partners for these established institutions to navigate the new market with speed. The pandemic has changed the perception of decentralised technologies, and many conventional players are now trying to play catch up.
Entering Phase 2 of Open Banking.
It has been four years since open banking was introduced to fintech, and we are now at the tipping point where open banking is starting to see implementation. Fintech is at the forefront of this next implementation phase by providing open banking players with the infrastructure to operate. There is considerable untapped potential and now is the time for fintech to capitalise on it.
One of the problems that open banking providers face is that if they only have a technical open banking license, they cannot collect or hold client funds. More importantly, they cannot pay out refunds to the consumer. What they can do, however, is authorise a transaction from consumer A to a merchant – but they cannot see or touch the money. Fintech can help set open banking providers up with a sterling or euro account to collect money on behalf of the merchants.
They can now see the funds coming in and alert the merchant that they have arrived. Fintech can also make pay-outs and enable refunds if necessary. Giving these extra features to open banking institutions is what fintech can provide while they transition from the introduction phase and into the implementation phase.
Finding the balance between agility and compliance
Financial institutions are caught between the need to stay agile to keep up with innovative competitors and the need to keep up with a steep learning curve that impedes experimentation with modern technologies. Compliance plays an essential role here. If you are a financial services business and want to work yourself into a new space, you first need to change and adapt your compliance approach and risk appetite.
Compliance should always come first, then the technology. As a business, you need to consider how you bring it up to speed and how you enable those features. You must also decide whether to build connections and the infrastructure in-house. Or are you going to find someone who is an expert in this?
Being agile is especially important for a business sector that experiences constant innovation like fintech, especially regarding environmental or industry changes. Paradoxically, organisations must ensure that they are not overcomplicating things with lots of processes and procedures. Finding the balance between risk and compliance will likely be what separates the fast-growing financial services businesses from those that never really take off.
So, does the metaverse have the potential to become a primary channel in fintech?
The metaverse as it currently stands is still in its nascent stages of development and, like any foundational technology, its potential still remains unknown. The success of the initial endeavours in this channel will hinge on an organisation’s ability to manage its risk to compliance balance. In a sector exploding in both investment and opportunities, estimated risks must be taken quickly to reap the potential benefits. Fintech offers a unique partnership opportunity to larger, more established financial institutions to provide a more nuanced exploration of emerging channels. Fintechs can also be an invaluable partner to open banking players as they facilitate the transition from the introduction to the implementation phase.
