Business owners are finding themselves having to constantly adapt to an ever-changing market, due to the speed at which new technology is being produced. The way that businesses not only interact with each other, but with 
their consumers, is vastly different than it was 20, and even 10 years ago. One of the biggest changes has come in the form of an emerging financial technology market. No longer limited to just Silicon Valley, tech and finance are combining to bring users streamlined control of their finances.
One of the most evident examples of this is the emerging online banking market. Online-only banks are revolutionizing the banking industry by providing services not offered by brick and mortar locations, due to their lower overhead costs and easy user interfaces. This means that businesses need to know how to be compatible with this ever-growing market to provide the fastest services to their users and meet their needs.
Consumers Control Their Finances
Many mobile banking platforms have features that allow users to track their finances, set budgets, and limit spending for them automatically. Not only does this allow users to have more control over their personal finances, but they are also becoming more aware of where their monthly expenses are coming from. This is due in part to the fact that many new online banks are offering services with no monthly maintenance fees, giving consumers a place to safely save their money without feeling like they’re losing it to high banking costs.
In many cases, this means more people looking to optimize their budget, causing them to cut back in order to save up for larger purchases, or just have money put aside for emergencies.
In order to stay on top of a market that may be more hesitant to spend excessively, businesses need to be able to provide better deals than their competitors, particularly in the e-commerce market, which often boasts lower prices and the convenience of shopping directly from home.
On one hand, this means always staying updated on the pricing trends in your industry and attempting to provide lower prices on higher quality products where possible. Offering price-match services is one way to help your business succeed in competing with services like Amazon. This also means looking into your company’s supply chain and finding smart ways to cut back in order to continuously offer lower prices that are more appealing to financially savvy consumers.
Mobile Payments Are More Common
With digital banks emerging, many users are turning to the digital payment services offered by these banks. The days of carrying cash are quickly going out the door in favor of more convenient options such as debit, credit cards, and now mobile payments. In fact, cash is becoming so unpopular, that eight in ten Americans now carry less than $50 in cash.
While this doesn’t mean you should ditch the cash register just yet, there are steps you should take to help make your business fine-tuned to the mobile payment market. If you haven’t already, start investing in credit card readers that take mobile payments, as you don’t want to have to turn away users because you cannot accommodate mobile payments. Users are also becoming more and more likely to shop directly from their phones. If you have an online store, this means you need to be optimizing the mobile version of your site to be easy to use, and more importantly, to shop in. By doing this, users will be more likely to make purchases from your site simply for the convenience it offers.
Digital Banks for Business
Not only are there digital banks available for consumers, but there are also plenty of online banks for businesses. In the same way that online banks help consumers streamline their financial planning, these business banks help business owners boost their revenue by allowing them to properly track their expenses and revenue in real-time.
For small businesses, you may not need to splurge on the extra cost of signing up for a business bank account. However, having a bank account separate from your personal bank account can allow you to properly track your expenses and revenue, giving you a boost when it comes to tax write-offs and allowing you to properly reallocate profits back into your business.
With new financial technology trends taking over the business world, it is now more important than ever for business owners to stay on top of these trends in order to stay competitive. As always, it will be important to continue reading business resources online, such as CPA Today, to stay up to date on the latest news and resources in the business world.