Fintech applications from the field of “personal financial management” support the customer or user to structure, manage and plan their personal finances. For this purpose, the fintech companies typically aggregate and visualize financial data and display trends or benchmark data. It is often possible to visualize financial risks or to plan for future life events.

The “Investments and trading” category includes start-ups that present consumers or companies investment options in the form of stocks and shares, etc., or that run a marketplace for trading certain financial contracts, e.g. factoring. In addition, they often allow the users direct or indirect exchange with experts or provide tools for decision making.

This includes all other fintech companies whose applications are differentiated from the remaining categories in a particular way or which cannot be clearly categorized.

Fintech solutions that are allocated to the “Payment transactions” category might for example offer quick and inexpensive applications for European and/or international payment transactions for private or business customers. They employ diverse payment methods (such as direct debit payments, credit cards, pre-paid cards), technologies (including NFC, Quick Response, Bluetooth Low Energy) or payment processes.

The “Analytics and research” category includes fintech companies that for example provide smart analytic tools and/or comprehensive but easy to operate databases. There are numerous applications for example in the field of securities.

Fintech companies from the “Lending and factoring” category offer a multi-faceted spectrum of innovative (bank) services. They might act as lenders or they might mediate credits for private and/or corporate customers, including by means of crowd funding platforms. Fintech companies that offer integrated processes and software solutions for managing liabilities are also included in this category.

The “Infrastructure” category includes fintech companies that support the infrastructures of banks or insurance companies through digital processes and services or even provide this kind of digital infrastructure. The keyword here is API banking (API = Application Programming Interface), a technology protocol which controls communication between various software components and which ensures quicker integration of new, innovative applications into the back-end systems at banks.

Fintech companies whose applications fit the “Digital and mobile brokers” category mostly act as digital brokers of insurance and offer customers an overview and also management of all insurance contracts via app or website. Online or telephone consulting is often also offered.

When multiple parties all offer something to a private or commercial party, this is referred to as “peer-to-peer” (P2P). Fintech companies that are allocated to this category offer platforms for organizing a P2P exchange. It often relates to loans that are made from several parties to one private or commercial borrower.

Applications from fintech companies from the “Portfolio” category offer for example purely online portfolio management with access to attractive call money or fixed-interest term deposits for domestic and foreign banks. In addition, there are often ways to identify the best investment for the customers by means of various offers.

Fintech companies from the “Account” category may offer cheap, purely online-based accounts without branch banking or alternatively they might offer innovative online banking solutions on the smartphone or tablet. As a whole, fintech companies are offering their customers more and more innovative features that are not (yet) available at traditional direct or branch banks, for example a full range of real-time services.

Fintech companies that run comparison portals generate transparency about key features of financial contracts and thus support the decision-making process for consumers or companies.

Fintech applications from the “Easy assistance or self service” category aim to offer a high level of simplicity or uncomplicated support for diverse financial transactions. These applications facilitate communication via SMS or transfers via SMS for example. The applications all allow customers to act independently to a large degree and to settle processes with simple tools and they offer seamless, integrated support through a digital customer center.

Fintech companies from the “Bitcoins and blockchains” category might for example offer diverse financial products in virtual currencies (mainly bitcoins) or operate payment transaction systems including the conversion of virtual to real currencies. The category also contains fintech companies that offer solutions based on blockchain technology, for which numerous application options are being researched or have already been developed (for example smart contracts).