Fintech to Become a $1.5 Trillion Market in 2030 - BCG

 Global financial technology (fintech) revenues will grow from $245 billion in 2022 to $1.5 trillion by 2030 (600 percent), according to a 2023 report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In 2022, fintech controlled 2 percent of the $12.5 trillion global financial services market. BCG sees this growing to 7 percent by 2030.

Fintechs have grown rapidly worldwide as digital infrastructure becomes more commonplace. Millions of people now send and receive money, make payments, and bank through their smartphones. Unfortunately, millions of people around the world remain unbanked, especially in developing regions. BCG expects these groups to power the coming wave of fintech adoption.

In Asia Pacific, for example, BCG projects the fintech market will grow at an annual compound rate of 27 percent, driven by adoption in countries such as China, India, and Indonesia. These countries have large, underbanked populations, many small businesses, and a rising tech-savvy middle class.

Growth in Latin America and Africa will also be remarkable. BCG expects fintech to grow at a compound annual rate of 29 percent in Latin America and 32 percent in Africa. Countries leading this growth will include Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya.

The United States fintech market will grow at a compound annual rate of 17 percent to reach $520 billion by the end of the decade. It will be the second-biggest fintech market globally, behind the Asia Pacific region.

The Life Cycle of a Gold Mine

 

Gold mining is a time- and resource-intensive process. Here is a breakdown of the life cycle of a gold mine:

1. Gold exploration. Companies must first explore for gold in vast fields of land to discover the ones with viable gold deposits. This is an elaborate process that can take up to 10 years. Explorers rely on experts from fields such as geology, geography, engineering, and chemistry to explore for gold. They use processes such as soil sampling and aeromagnetic surveys to test whether a site has gold. If it does, they do further analysis to determine whether gold mining on the site is economically viable.

2. Development of a gold mine. This can take one to five years. Miners have to secure resources for developing the mine, plan its construction, and obtain licenses and permits. For the actual construction, they have to construct the mine and supporting infrastructure like roads and power stations. Often, miners also have to build community welfare resources for workers.

3. Gold mining. Once a mine is complete, miners can mine for gold. The process involves extracting ore from the ground and applying industrial processes to transform it into a metallic alloy called a drone with 60-90 percent gold. Miners then give the dore to refiners, who refine it into gold bars of up to 99.99 percent purity. Gold mines operate for 10 to 30 years.

4. Gold mine closure. When a mine’s ore is exhausted, or the remaining ore is no longer economically viable to extract, miners will decommission the plant and dismantle the mining infrastructure. Afterward, they will take steps to rehabilitate the land by planting vegetation and detoxifying ponds. This takes one to five years.