Behavioral science is a fascinating area about which I knew very little until recently. In fintech there are huge opportunities for improvement by studying decision making and experimenting with different ways to motivate people to change their behavior. Big improvements in financial health will never happen without changes in behavior.

I think the small dollar loan space is fascinating. When done responsibly it is a difficult business to execute well given the small amount of revenue generated with each transaction. It requires automation, good underwriting and efficient marketing. One of the leaders in this space is LendUp.

Small business lending is going through some rapid changes right now. Tech companies like PayPal and Square are becoming huge players in the space and new entrants like Stripe, Shopify and Toast are looking to help finance their huge customer bases. The market is becoming more challenging for the first generation of alternative lenders to grow.

One of the major trends of this decade is going to be the emergence of banking-as-a-service (BaaS). More and more non-financial companies are going to be offer bank-like services. We are already seeing this with the likes of Uber with their Uber Money initiative. Not only that but BaaS also helps enable fintech companies to quickly and easily expand their product offerings.

It takes a certain kind of mindset for the leader of a small community bank to go all in on digital. Particularly back in 2012 before digital banking became the all the rage with massive funding rounds and millions of customers flocking to digital bank startups.

The fuel that has fired the fintech boom over the past decade or so is capital. Whether it is a venture capital funding round, an IPO or an acquisition capital is at the center of it all. And there is one investment bank that has been at the center of many of the most important deals we have seen.

Online small business lending is becoming a mature industry with several established players. But it all began with OnDeck when they launched in 2007. The company has now provided over $12 billion in loans to customers throughout the United States, Australia and Canada.

Quickbooks has been synonymous with small business accounting for several decades now. But they recently launched Quickbooks Capital to provide their small business customers with an easy and transparent way to borrow money.

While there are several online lending platforms that have reached scale in the small business space, banks still do the vast majority of small business loans. But many banks don’t have the capability to provide a modern, digital and user friendly experience. The good news is that banks now recognize this and are more open to partnering with fintech companies than ever before.