1 Exploring FinTech and Generative AI
This chapter covers
- What the Automated Clearing House (ACH) is and why it is important
- How this book uses Full stack development to build an ACH Dashboard
- A first look at the benefits and pitfalls of Generative AI
The term “FinTech” became common in the last few decades as shorthand for Financial Technology. In fact, financial technology is a term that could be applied to inventions from long ago, such as the nineteenth century’s cash register and telegraph, and even the earliest coin purses from circa 3,300 BC. These days, FinTech helps empower crowdfunding opportunities through websites such as GoFundMe and Kickstarter. Gig service apps such as Uber and DoorDash rely on FinTech to facilitate fast payments. Payment services such as Venmo and Zelle can offer fast person to person (P2P) and business to business (B2B) payments because of FinTech. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are certainly classified as FinTech, but even the more traditional banking, investing, and credit companies have FinTech at their core.
What then is FinTech? Simply put, it is using technology to improve the handling of money. Today, FinTech refers to software that offers quicker, more convenient, and/or new ways to handle money.