The fintech industry moved into the modern era from something deeper than just better technology. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 triggered a crisis of trust. For millions of consumers and businesses, the crisis revealed a need for greater transparency. A new generation of financial services companies–fintechs–stepped into the gap promoting not just efficiency and lower costs, but transparency and accessibility as well.
This approach has delivered real results: The International Monetary Fund finds that digital finance not only increases financial inclusion, but is also associated with higher GDP growth and, in turn, helps create a more equitable global financial system.
The fintech industry has now matured, as shown by successful industry forums like the Singapore Fintech Festival and Hong Kong Fintech Week. The question has changed: It’s no longer whether fintech can disrupt; it’s whether fintech can build enough trust to manage and move the world’s money, and achieve the sector’s full potential?
I believe we’re at a crucial inflection point. Fintech’s potential—business, social and economic—depends entirely on earning people’s trust to bring more of them, and their finances, into the system.
Now is the greatest opportunity
Fintech is in the middle of a turbo-charged era: AI-driven efficiencies and personalization, instant decentralized settlements, and a fully digital wealth management experience, all unthinkable a decade ago, are now on the way.
Basic trust has already been established. One example: across age groups, new technologies have significantly reduced the need for physical cash, if not made it near-nonexistent, in many economies.
Yet it’s a substantial leap to go from trusting a platform to make a simple payment to trusting it to manage your retirement savings. As technologies grow more powerful and personal, trust is increasingly the gatekeeper to further adoption. The greater responsibility raises the bar for trust in complex financial systems and puts pressure on companies to demonstrate transparency.
As algorithms and technology become more sophisticated, customers must understand exactly how decisions are made, where their money is held, and how their data is used. If fintechs cannot bridge the gap between these rapid advancements and clear, jargon-free information and education, mass adoption will falter.
The limitation won’t be the technology itself, but the lack of public trust, which ultimately constrains the industry’s potential to improve financial health and inclusion.
After all, a crisis of confidence can erase decades of work in mere days—just think back to 2023 and the Silicon Valley Bank crisis. Trust has to be consciously engineered into every platform layer.
Engineering trust into the business model
In an industry where relationships with users are largely digital, trust must be engineered through design. This requires modern fintech platforms to be built on three non-negotiable pillars:
First, fintechs must continue to open up access to their services. Platforms must lower traditional barriers to entry—high minimums, complex processes, early redemption fees and the like—to ensure that no one is excluded from wealth creation.
Second, platforms must offer their users guidance. Financial confidence comes from clarity, not endless choice. Platforms must combine digital simplicity with human reassurance and expertise when needed.
At Syfe, we’ve tried to put human expertise front and center, such as by offering discretionary management by our in-house experts on Managed Portfolios, but scaling it with technology for maximum reach. The personalized stock updates, powered by AI, are a good example of that process in action.
Fintechs also need to build financial literacy, which remains a significant challenge even in advanced markets. Take Singapore: A Fidelity International found that just 22% of its residents felt confident about their ability to invest money. Education and jargon-free information are essential ingredients to empower people to build a better financial future.
Finally, fintech platforms must be affordable. It sends a clear signal: That they succeed only when their customers do. In an industry where hidden fees can erode confidence, cost efficiency ensures that technology can scale access without exploiting customers.
Putting trust at the center of a business is the only sustainable growth strategy, and not just a moral stance. Customers who feel empowered and secure are more likely to recommend a service to others, stay through market volatility, and continue to adopt new products.
The imperative over the next decade is clear. If fintech is to fulfil its promise of democratizing access to better financial outcomes, it must make trust the organizing principle of its business. This requires investment, patience, and the courage to trade short-term disruption for long-term credibility. Trust will be the hardest metric to win, but it’ll be the one that will matter most.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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