Currently, the largest industry utilizing peer-to-peer technology is transportation. Uber rose from a fledgling start-up to become one of the most influential new companies in the world, at what seemed a meteoric rate. And Uber isn’t alone, largely because it isn’t especially hard for other P2P companies in the same industry to enter the market.
However, while companies like Uber must deal with the backlash (At times over legal matters.) ofstealing the business of thousands and thousands of taxi drivers, in the financial world, the reviews are overwhelmingly positive at this point.
It’s a concept that has been around since the day when the only way for individuals to broadcast goods or services was on the bulletin board at the community center. However, P2P is currently utilized in virtually every industry thanks largely to the advance of technology, especially in countries where smart phones are most prevalent.
Mobile payment services such as Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and Square Cash have all enjoyed steady growth, and financial institutions can’t help but see the value of a technology that cuts down on their IT costs, and decreases the need for cash.
For banks, the lowered costs of the technology translate into positives like being able to offer lower interest rates on loans.
Soul Htite, the founder and CEO at Dianrong, a peer-to-peer lending company based in Shanghai, told CNN, “I doubt that people born today are ever going to have a bank account the same way you and I have a bank account. I think we’re going to see the banking world completely transform.”
Perhaps one of the most significant future impacts P2P Finance will have is on developing countries that are still in the process of defining their financial identity.
“In places that lack a given established industry, these kinds of disruptive technologies can start with a blank canvas. Changing a pattern of use can be much more difficult than adopting a new technology,” says STRATFOR.
For the most part, P2P has shed the less-than-desirable light that operations like Napster and other piracy schemes gave it. Instead, it is proving that it is a smart, fast, and reliable way to connect and conduct business.
The post The Merging of P2P and Finance appeared first on STRATECTA.