Financial technology refers to the innovation of products and services provided by the traditional financial industry through the use of various types of technological means to improve efficiency and effectively reduce operating costs.

It includes, but is not limited to, emerging cutting-edge technologies such as big data, blockchain, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, which are being comprehensively applied to the six major financial fields of payment and clearing, lending and financing, wealth management, retail banking, insurance, and trading and settlement, and are the future mainstream trend of the financial industry.

The essence of fintech remains financial, without changing the functional substance and risk attributes of financial business. Fintech mainly involves front-end industry and back-end technology, aiming to create new models, businesses, processes and products.

The development of fintech will profoundly change the entire financial industry, with huge market space and extremely broad prospects. The Ministry of Education's "Action Plan for Artificial Intelligence Innovation in Colleges and Universities" further clarifies that Fintech is a key area of AI+ action in colleges and universities. Financial technology is also one of the fastest-growing industries in China with strong investment from the government and enterprises.

The technology involved in fintech is characterized by rapid updating and iteration, cross-border and mixed industries, and is the superimposed integration of cutting-edge disruptive technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and traditional financial business and scenarios. It mainly includes four core parts: big data finance, artificial intelligence finance, blockchain finance and quantitative finance.

Importance of Fintech:

1. Improve the efficiency of financial services: Fintech improves the efficiency of financial services by innovating traditional financial services through technical means. For example, through cloud computing, big data and other technologies, financial institutions can process business more quickly, reduce waiting time and improve customer experience.

2. Reducing the cost of financial services: Fintech reduces the operating costs of financial institutions. For example, through digitalization, automation and other technologies, it can reduce manual intervention and lower labor costs. At the same time, through cloud computing and other technologies, the investment in IT infrastructure can be reduced.

3. Innovative financial service models: Fintech has given rise to new financial service models, such as P2P lending, crowdfunding, digital currency and so on. These new models make financial services more convenient and flexible, and meet the diversified needs of consumers and businesses.