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Opinion
Ben Ashby

Investors Need to Get a Lot Smarter About FinTech

Rapid product rollouts, a slick user interface or innovative technology are often cited as key competitive advantages, but these are not strategies in themselves.

Which ocean is your FinTech sailing in?

Which ocean is your FinTech sailing in?

Photographer: Amory Ross/Team Alvimedica/Volvo Ocean Race via Getty Images

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The good news is that advances in financial technology, or FinTech, are going to improve customers lives. The bad news is a lot of investors are going to lose money while it happens. With a record $98 billion invested in the first half of 2021 alone, taking the total to in excess of $1 trillion over the past decade, the amounts involved are stunning.

Despite some amazing companies many FinTechs are poor investments, beset by serious flaws in their business models and operational performance. We are in an era of immense technological change, but cheap money and the need for growth has blinded many investors to the risks.