Delve into the persistent prominence of cybersecurity and the escalating significance of artificial intelligence (AI) within the fintech sector, revealing insights from CeFPro's Fintech Leaders reports.
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Cybersecurity is here to stay
Cybersecurity and AI have been ever-present themes throughout the course of CeFPro’s Fintech Leaders surveys and reports.
Cybersecurity has been a near-constant obstacle in the implementation of fintech across financial services. In the 2024 Fintech Leaders report, cybersecurity was ranked as the most significant obstacle among our survey cohort, with 38% stating it was a ‘Very important’ factor, and 50% viewing it as the ‘Most significant’. Overall, nearly 9 out of every 10 respondents (88%) viewed it as an ongoing threat and a key challenge that limits fintech’s ability to maximize and fulfill its potential.
Interestingly, overall, the rankings have remained the same, with the combined percentages of those ranking ‘Very important’ or ‘Most significant’ being within 10% of the recorded votes from the previous few years. In 2019, the combined percentage was 90%, while 2020 saw a result of 89%, and 2023 saw a cumulative score of 86%.
Demand for ever-secure, fast, reliable, and immediate access to transactions and accounts has created constant challenges for financial institutions. There are increasing numbers of bad actors, some private and some state-sponsored, operating in the space.
As a result, the challenges for financial institutions have grown exponentially, as clients’ requests are increasing, and shareholders demand controlled costs and enhanced profits. All the while, the post-pandemic world has seen increased expectations regarding the quality of the customer experience, as well as enhanced mobile and digital services.
When looking back, there is an understanding as to why cybersecurity has consistently been ranked first as the investment priority in the Fintech Leaders reports and has repeatedly been one of the few areas to have over 50% of votes cast as ‘Most significant’. This year’s report had 88% rank cybersecurity as the key investment priority; a review of the last two years shows that there this percentage was 89% last year, and 85% in 2022. With the fintech industry continuing to expand and grow at its current rate, more mobile and digital services becoming available, an uncertain geopolitical arena creating a harsher divide, and an increase in organized crime (both state- and independent-sponsored), the need for enhanced cybersecurity and protection is clear. 
AI takes center stage
AI has also consistently ranked highly throughout CeFPro’s Fintech Leaders reports, although with not as much consistency or breadth of coverage as cybersecurity. In this year’s 2024 report, AI was ranked first place as a notable fintech opportunity, with 88% of respondents stating that it was a ‘Very important’ or the ‘Most significant’ prospect. Even pre-pandemic with the 2019 Fintech Leaders report, AI was ranked second as an opportunity, with 74% of respondents stating that it was ‘Very important’ or the ‘Most significant’ prospect. The 2019 report also asked respondents to state what they predicted would be a prominent opportunity in the future as part of a five year outlook; AI went on to be declared as likely to be ‘Very important’ or the ‘Most significant’ by 38% of respondents each, for a combined total of 76%. Fast forward five years to this year’s report, and the predictions of 2019 have nearly come true.
Just two years ago, in the Fintech Leaders 2022 report, AI came in sixth position, with 57% of respondents stating that it was ‘Very important’ or ‘Most significant’. However, it is worth noting that in this report, only 16% of respondents ranked AI as the ‘Most significant’ opportunity, with many choosing instead to select: cybersecurity; advanced data and analytics; customer experience; mobile, digital services, and the cloud. It should be noted that the survey for the 2022 Fintech Leaders report was conducted toward the end of 2021, which was still at the height of the pandemic, with much uncertainty ahead for financial services and many mobile and remote systems still in place. A ‘needs must’ attitude, and the prioritizing of business and operations was in place in many financial institutions. It is also worth noting that despite the relatively low ranking and votes, respondents did state that in their five-year outlook, AI would significantly increase in importance. In contrast to its sixth-place ranking in its current importance,
