The Impact of the Metaverse on Financial Services

Metaverse has long been an exciting topic in the world of tech enthusiasts. And the popularity of the term skyrocketed with Zuckerberg’s rebranding presentation of Facebook, which created a new hype of linking everything to the metaverse. 

Expectedly, financial institutions of all kinds have taken their fair share of the metaverse boom, creating new-age financial services in the metaverse.

Since finance is one of the common grounds of humanity, people began thinking about the impact of the metaverse on financial services. And as a SaaS and PaaS company that follows every bit of progression of emerging technology trends considering financial services, we have some ideas on the link between the metaverse and financial services. 

How is Fintech Embracing the Metaverse? 

Due to its revolutionary nature, the metaverse is a fascinating concept, and there are many ways in which fintech companies can embrace it. And the shift had already begun even before Zuckerberg’s Meta launch.

MasterCard’s augmented reality app was one of the first steps by big shots that took advantage of 360-degree virtual reality environments to enhance customer experience. The company launched the app in January 2020, stating that “By leveraging an intuitive AR design, cardholders can now easily find and fully explore their benefits that otherwise might have been overlooked.”

Of course, creating new and unique experiences will not be the only role of the brave new virtual world; fintechs also take advantage of AR and VR technologies in the daily workflow like employee training, virtual customer service, and of course, payments. 

It may be a vague concept for many of us, but everyone’s taking their own unique steps toward the future. Whether it be creating virtual banks or buying plots in virtual universes, like JP Morgan’s giant plot acquisition in Decentraland and South Korea-based Kookmin Bank’s virtual customer service, all are creating new experiences for banking in the metaverse.

Since the metaverse is a world beyond reality, its economy will also rely on fully-digital systems. Welcome to the metaverse economy, being built by fintechs.

Why Fintechs will Play a Key Role In the Metaverse 

There’s no doubt that blockchain technology will be the basis of the metaverse ecosystem, and that applies not only to the metaverse economy but also to the whole system. The metaverse is yet to birth brand new players, but we already see what’s been heating up to shape the metaverse.

Real estate in the metaverse 

Metaverse-specific real estate companies have already begun investing in giant plots in the major metaverse ecosystems, which aim to mimic buying and selling real estate in the “physical” world. Republic Realm’s massive $4.3 million meta-plot acquisition is a great example of real estate in the metaverse.

Cryptocurrencies 

The world has already been going cashless for a decade, and the role of fintech has undoubtedly been substantial in building a cashless world. In a world where it’s impossible to use physical cash, cryptocurrencies will be the main source of the meta-economy. 

Of course, the metaverse and all of its variations are in their first phases, so it’s impossible to say which cryptocurrencies will be the rulers and which will flop. But if there’s one thing for sure, it’s that fintechs that focus on cryptocurrencies will be the main stars of the new world.

Non-fungible tokens 

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs with their popular term, are one of the other hype trains of the 2020s. And after the boom of the Metaverse, the digital form of unique objects has only seen an unstoppable rise, both on the creator and buyer fronts. 

The biggest news for NFTs, for now, seems to be the technology’s inevitable merger with De-Fi, which for experts, will create the next banking revolution after open banking and PSD2.

As a PaaS and SaaS company that has a strong hand in e-banking and future-ready fintech solutions, we are always looking for new ways to expand our capabilities. For example, one of our biggest projects powered by our open banking platform, Vive, is a neobank, all-digital bank that leverages the secure and transparent infrastructure of our platform. And we are exploring De-Fi and metaverse for further projects, too.

Opportunities for Banks & Fintechs In the Metaverse 

Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed realities are all ways to experience the metaverse. Banks and fintechs can already explore the metaverse in a limited fashion via these technologies.

We have seen how banks use AI to automate many of their processes. This can be a cost-effective way to reduce the number of employees on the payroll, but it can also help create a more personalized customer experience. Because banking in the metaverse is not just about digitization and automation—it is about creating a personalized banking experience for every customer.

A new-age customer experience is the first place that banks and financial institutions will shine in the metaverse. In a world where banks are looking for opportunities to offer fully branchless banking, the metaverse will offer a perfect setting for new ways of consulting, banking, and more. It’s no secret that financial services are increasingly decentralizing, creating new trends for financial services.

We’re Ready to Carry Your Financial Services Into the Future 

Whichever way we turn our heads, we see an exciting future, and we’re proud to be shaping everyday experiences for both end-users and service providers with our solutions. Here at Tmob, we’ve been building fintech, e-banking, e-wallet, and mobile payment solutions for various companies and various needs, and our future-ready fintech solutions platform offers the latest technologies in a seamless package. 

The flexible and customizable platform is built to fit almost every scenario, and we’re ready to tinker with it for your next, future-proof transition. Whether your project is to build a neobank from scratch or implement payment solutions to your super-app, our platform’s at your service.