Technology keeps advancing year after year, improving the way we live and do business. One of the best things that technology is changing is the financial element of the online world, most notably e-commerce. What used to be unavailable is now more reachable and available than ever.

Fintech and payment innovation have greatly affected the world – they brought mobile payments, online payments, shopping online and digital money. Here is how they will continue to affect e-commerce:

It will help companies target the unbanked
The Central Bank of Nigeria reported in July 2018 that Nigeria's unbanked population stood at 37%, with the majority from rural areas. Interestingly, developments in digital money and fintech have enabled the kind of financial inclusion that banks can't. Fintech offers safe and simple alternatives to regular banks and it powers a good financial inclusion in these regions. It also facilitates money transfers between users, mobile payments, increases the popularity of digital currencies etc.

It will continue to improve digital payments
To make online payments seamless for its customers, Jumia introduced Jumia Pay. Since inception, it has encouraged pre-payment because it's very secure and has a fast refund timeline. This success can be attributed specifically to the development of fintech and payment innovations. The payment process used to be much more complicated. For a user to purchase something online, they had to stand in lines at the bank to complete the payment and everything was much slower. Now, because of fintechs, people can pay for products and services from the comfort of their home with just a few clicks.

New payment companies are breaking through
Along with big and popular payment companies, there are some new payment companies finding their way and their customers. Some of the payment gateways are Flutterwave, Paystack and Jumia Pay for example. These young companies have discovered their own way of doing things. They have all made payment for online transactions less stressful.

It drives technology advancements
Most of the impact of fintech and payment innovations you can notice on e-commerce platforms. They have changed and developed in the past decade from simple websites to these vehicles of modern trade.

Fintech promotes collaboration among countries
Given that the countries are not always at their best when it comes to global transfers, syncing and finding payment solutions, fintech greatly improves the relationship between them. E-commerce companies which intend to work with locally based suppliers have to understand the basics of how the local economy works and what the preferred payment options are. They have to understand the laws, keep up with quality technological platforms and all in all, stay on top of things that happen in that country. This is one of the ways fintech improves the world – by helping it bridge the differences.