Fintech platforms have experienced a significant boom through the COVID-19 pandemic, as new ways to bring easier and more flexible payment options to consumers have become increasingly necessary. Fintech brings about countless new ways to shop, bank, and transact from anywhere, which has obviously become key in an age wherein consumers have had to adapt to a remote working environment.

Coming into a new year, lenders and merchants alike need to understand the most significant fintech lending trends coming down the pipeline. By identifying the most valuable and widely-adoptable new tools, both parties can create more savvy plans to optimize profitability throughout 2022.

There are four major fintech lending trends that are breaking out the most in 2022, including:

• Embedded Banking
• Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Blockchain-Based Fintech

The Top Four Fintech Lending Trends Explained

Embedded Banking

As more consumers come to expect simple, streamlined banking and financing, embedding those processes outside of a bank website or mobile app has become necessary to capitalize on as many opportunities as possible. This usually takes the form of fintech tools that embed credit applications and financing offers into merchant websites, allowing consumers to make a purchase, and finance that purchase, all from a single webpage.

While embedded banking has been around, its emergence will likely ramp up quite a bit in 2022 as more big banks get involved. The draw for them to incorporate these new embedded systems comes alongside other emerging fintech lending trends, like BNPL programs.

Buy Now, Pay Later

BNPL programs have seen a significant rise in popularity as consumers’ buying power has seen significant fluctuations throughout the pandemic. The low-to-no-interest payment plans allow consumers to make purchases when they need or want them most, financing them without worrying about negative credit impacts or high financing costs.

The retail space has been incredibly welcoming to BNPL. However, it is still listed here as a 2022 trend because there is endless room for adoption in other industries like healthcare, home improvement, and any retail spaces that haven’t already come around.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Since big banks and private lenders are looking to get more involved in these new fintech tools, they are faced with two choices: Develop a platform themselves, or contract with a third party. This has given rise to a rapidly expanding PaaS industry wherein experienced fintech developers marry their software expertise with the funds of a reputable lender to create the ultimate embedded lending experience.

Contracting with a third-party platform has proven to be the fastest, most cost-effective way for lenders to get involved, and so this fintech lending trend is likely to grow exponentially as consumer lending becomes more widely adopted.  

Blockchain-Based Fintech

The newest trend on this list is incorporating blockchain technology in fintech. Blockchain opens the door for faster, more secure fintech platforms, and it’s possible that it is the future of fintech as we know it. This technology is extraordinarily secure, transparent, and easily auditable. It solves many of the issues in fintech today, namely the speed at which approvals can be processed and loans can be originated.

As a result of its potential in the space, blockchain is the bookend of our list of 2022’s fintech lending trends.

Skeps Is Ahead of 2022 Fintech Lending Trends

Our omnichannel platform looks to leverage every single fintech lending trend on this list to create the financing platform of the future. We utilize blockchain to make our processes faster and more secure than the competition, and our extensive experience in embedded banking and the finance products that it facilitates makes us the perfect option for lenders and merchants looking to get involved.