Consumers will dictate the evolution of financial technology, according to a firm in the space.

Next year will see consumers assume a central role within the fintech space, according to DataArt, a technology consulting firm to industries including financial services.

The "digital revolution” has already seen a flurry of wealth managers bump up their technological capacity through new initiatives and deals with financial technology providers. Over recent weeks, for example, SEI UK Private Banking extended its partnership with fintech firm Fusion Wealth for a further seven years, while BNY Mellon launched a Europe, Middle East and Africa innovation centre in London.

“We now live in a world where convenience and ease of use dictates and shapes everything we do. The digital era is going to pick up speed and will transcend more and more of our everyday industries, most significantly the banking industry,” said DataArt’s US managing director, Alexei Miller.

“Customer expectation demands the continuous development of digital platforms to enable ever more convenient and easily accessible modes of operating in consumer finance. Expect in 2016 that banks and wealth management firms will continue to advance their technology in order to set themselves above the rest of the financial field.”

Essentially, customer expectations will shape fintech road mapping, according to the firm, while bank and wealth management firms will increasingly use technology to differentiate themselves from competitors. 

The rise of innovative data governance solutions will lead to a new culture of data ownership by business stakeholders and big data projects will become a key characteristic of financial enterprises, the firm added.