The stage for global fintech competition is changing. The target of competition is no longer individual services or platforms. An era is dawning in which national competitiveness will be determined by who first builds a new financial ecosystem centered on artificial intelligence (AI), data, digital assets, and payment infrastructure.
This shift is also evident in market forecasts. Global research firms project that the AI market in finance will continue to grow at an average annual rate of more than 30 percent, reaching up to 1 trillion dollars around 2035. This means AI is being evaluated as core infrastructure for the financial industry, beyond a mere technology. While fintech in the past focused on service innovation that enhanced consumer convenience, it is now expanding into competition over national industrial competitiveness and financial leadership.
Major countries are already on the move. The United States recognizes AI as a new growth engine for the financial industry and is expanding its use and regulatory reform, while the United Kingdom is strengthening policy support to back fintech and digital financial innovation. Major financial hubs, including Singapore, are also accelerating the construction of new financial infrastructure centered on digital assets and cross-border payments.
The direction of supervisory authorities and policy is also changing. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) operates a testbed that helps financial firms verify AI services in real environments, working to establish an innovation-friendly system. Singapore is pursuing the construction of a financial ecosystem linking AI, digital assets, and next-generation payment infrastructure as a national strategy.
At the center of this change is AI. The emergence of generative AI is changing the very way the financial industry operates. From asset management and credit assessment to fraud detection systems (FDS) and risk management, AI is rapidly spreading across financial services. The core competitiveness of finance is also shifting from capital, branch networks, and existing customer bases to "how effectively data is utilized to create new value." MyData is likewise evolving beyond a simple information inquiry service toward supporting AI-based financial innovation. In the so-called "MyData 2.0" era, the capability to connect and utilize data to create new value will become more important than collecting data.
Along with AI, another key axis of next-generation payment infrastructure is digital assets. Recently, global financial institutions have been expanding the tokenization of various assets such as bonds, funds, and real estate, while payment and remittance services using stablecoins are also spreading rapidly. Ultimately, AI, data, digital assets, and next-generation payment technologies may appear to be stories from different fields, but they exist within one common current. They are connecting finance around data, creating new markets, and expanding the industrial ecosystem.
Korea is also in the midst of this current of change. The domestic fintech industry has moved beyond simple payments and remittances to create globally recognized innovation in the areas of MyData, data linkage, and API-based financial services. However, technology alone does not create a market. For innovation to lead to industrial growth, forward-looking systems and ecosystems that support it must be built together. This is why major countries around the world are pursuing technological innovation and regulatory innovation simultaneously. For a new financial ecosystem to thrive, system improvements must continue so that on-the-ground innovation capabilities can be fully exercised, and an environment that balances consumer protection with industrial competitiveness must be established as soon as possible.
