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The world of investing used to be restricted to a small portion of the population, typically those with high incomes and high levels of education. Access to knowledge on the subject was not easy and depended on professionals who charged high fees for tips and lessons. But this has been completely transformed by the emergence of digital information technologies.
The consolidation of the internet and later smartphones popularized fintechs. These are companies that offer financial services in a fully digital way, increasing accessibility to services that were previously restricted to those with advanced financial education.
Today, fintechs are everywhere. In addition to investments, they can be used to make payments in virtually all existing segments, from online betting at 1xBet Mongolia to everyday purchases at small establishments. Here, you will see how fintechs have consolidated worldwide and changed the way people deal with investments and other aspects of financial life.
The beginning of fintechs
Technologies have always been present in the world of finance, bringing about significant changes in the way people deal with money. This has been the case since ancient times, with the creation of network infrastructures that allowed the exchange of values between different territories, followed by the creation of ATMs, the possibility of making global transfers, and then debit and credit cards that replaced cash.
Many experts consider all these technologies to be Fintechs, classifying them into various eras beginning as early as 1886. However, the term became established and popularized with digital technologies, being used to refer to financial facilities supported by the internet.
This started in the 1990s, a decade in which the internet began to gain momentum from personal use, not just institutional use. A milestone in the history of fintech as we know it today was the emergence of PayPal in 1998. This marked the beginning of digital banking technology. The greatest proof of the idea’s success is that the company is still one of the world’s leading references in digital payments, surviving the test of time even with the arrival of major competitors.
However, even after PayPal’s success, it took about a decade for Fintechs to catch on with the population. Experts in the field indicate that the big boom in this type of service occurred in 2008, after the population was hit by various financial uncertainties brought on by a global crisis. Thus, systems that relied on digital technology and enabled exchanges with the whole world proved to be a safe alternative to traditional banks.
Initially, there was only a transition process from physical branch services to the digital world, with the possibility of making transfers, deposits, and some types of payments. However, over time, fintechs began to offer extra services that were still difficult to access at physical branches. This is what began to revolutionize the financial lives of the population, who now had access to products and services such as investments.
Global overview of fintechs
The figures related to fintechs and digital transactions are staggering and correspond to amounts that are difficult to imagine. According to the Statista platform, the total value of digital transactions in 2025 is projected to exceed $20 trillion. In numbers, that is 20,000,000,000,000, which helps to gauge how huge the market is.
Significant growth is expected from the consolidation of fintechs in regions that were not yet so favored by technology. Thus, the projection is that the value transacted in digital transactions will grow 13.63% per year until 2030, exceeding $38 trillion by the end of the decade. The survey also indicates that by 2030, the number of digital payment service users is expected to exceed 8.3 billion.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global market value of fintechs is estimated at over $310 billion, based on data from 2024. By 2032, annual growth is projected to be 16.2%, bringing the market to $1.1 trillion.
In addition to the popularization of technologies, the large increase expected in the coming years, both in users and market value, is due to new technologies, especially in security. With fintechs becoming increasingly secure and private, users will begin to trust digital financial services and products much more, which is still a barrier for many, especially older generations.
Access to investments has changed the financial lives of many people
Those who lived in the era of traditional banks with physical branches know how difficult it was to access investments. Many people were not even aware of this possibility, and that it went far beyond traditional savings accounts that yielded little money compared to other alternatives.
It was necessary to go to the branch, talk to a manager, understand the options, and invest the money. As this was not a widely discussed topic, this information only reached the financially and socially privileged part of the population, being closely related to the level of education.
With fintechs, all of this is available at the click of a button. As it is in the interest of companies that people invest through them, fintechs themselves create a lot of educational material and provide the best alternatives for each client. In most cases, all you have to do is access the app, go to the investment section, choose the option, and invest the money. Everything is easy and instantaneous.
This is directly reflected in the increase in the number of investors. A recent survey by JPMorgan Chase showed that even the investor audience is changing. The survey indicated that fewer young people are thinking about investing in assets such as real estate, but many are investing in the stock market. The study showed that one-third of young people up to 25 years old currently have investment accounts, a number six times higher than ten years ago.
In addition to young people, another segment of the population is investing much more. This is the lower-income bracket. With greater access to education, this segment of the population is realizing the importance of investing to achieve long-term dreams.
Data indicates that this growth, in addition to fintechs, was also driven by cultural changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Proof of this is that more than 10 million investment accounts were created in 2020. As many of the trends of the time have continued, the tendency is for this scenario to consolidate, which can already be seen from the data cited above.
Access to financial education has become easier
In addition to the advent of fintechs, there is another crucial factor for the growing interest in investments. Financial education has become more accessible. Currently, there are countless opportunities to learn more about personal finance and entrepreneurship:
- Online courses
- Free content on social media
- Specialized consulting services provided through digital platforms
- Discussion forums
A good example of this accessibility to financial education comes from Brazil, a country that has been highly impacted by fintechs and digital payment systems. According to a recent survey conducted by the Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association, there are 741 social media profiles focused exclusively on financial education, which together have more than 263 million followers.
The number grew 40% in just one year, showing the growing interest in the topic. Data from X, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook were analyzed, which indicates that these numbers may be even higher due to other social networks such as TikTok.
According to Amanda Brum, executive manager of the agency that conducted the research, the engagement of followers with these pages is also crucial to understanding the increase in the number of investors:“This is the key takeaway: people aren’t just passively following. Investment content is not simply scrolling by unnoticed; users are actively engaging.”
In addition to social media, other platforms help those who want to learn more about finance. Websites specializing in selling courses are full of content on financial education, many of them with accessible language geared toward beginners in the field. In addition, it is also possible to hire individual consultants on platforms focused on online classes. With prices more affordable than large courses provided by traditional institutions, accessibility is even greater.
Competition among fintechs expands opportunities
With so many companies wanting to take advantage of a slice of this huge market, competition among fintechs is growing rapidly. The winners are the users, who now have access to various features and benefits that were previously restricted to more special clients.
This also intensifies the dispute between traditional banks and fintechs, causing many century-old institutions to adapt to technologies and start offering new features to customers. Among the main examples is the increasing speed of transactions, which facilitates everything from payments for small purchases to deposits for playing at 1x Bet apps for mobile betting. Below, we have prepared a table with some of the benefits that are being observed:
| Benefit | What it is |
| Lower fees | Since fintechs have much lower operating costs with fewer employees and physical branches, the fees passed on to customers are also lower. So, traditional banks are also lowering their fees to compete. |
| Cards with benefits | Previously, cards with points and miles programs and other benefits were restricted to high-income individuals. Today, access to this service is much easier, as companies are democratizing special cards to attract customers. |
| Personalized service | Since each customer has their own needs, some fintechs are investing in a more human relationship with each user. This was already a hallmark of traditional banks, which have maintained the standard. |
| Partnerships with other institutions | Many banks and fintechs have commercial partnerships with digital product and service stores. This allows customers to get discounts and other benefits, such as advance ticket purchases for concerts and shows. |
Considering the expected growth of the fintech market mentioned above, the trend is for these benefits to expand even further. As a result, more and more people will have access to services that can greatly assist them in their financial lives.
