From digital escrow to crypto tax compliance, the next wave of fintech is solving high-friction problems that mainstream platforms still ignore.
While most headlines spotlight generative AI, one of the most transformational shifts in enterprise software is happening out of view—quietly reshaping how small-to-mid-sized businesses handle transactions, compliance, and security.
Think of the auto dealership still faxing contracts. Or the freelance designer transferring large files using unsecured links. Or the accountant buried in spreadsheets, trying to calculate crypto gains across wallets. These aren’t rare edge cases—they’re common workflows in industries long overlooked by traditional fintech.
According to Grand View Research, the global tax management software market alone is expected to reach $39.7 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 10.1% as new regulatory regimes take shape worldwide.
Meanwhile, the secure file transfer market—used in everything from legal escrow to architecture—is forecasted by Research and Markets to grow from $2.4 billion in 2024 to $3.7 billion by 2033, with demand fueled by remote work, data protection laws, and the digitization of high-trust industries.
These are not speculative trends. They’re quiet revolutions. And a new wave of AI-first companies is stepping in where legacy platforms fall short.
One emerging platform company is already aligning its roadmap to this exact market shift—as profiled in this recent BNN Bloomberg feature.
4 Companies Tapping Into Fintech’s Untapped Niches
- nCino, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCNO)
A pioneer in cloud banking software, nCino offers digital onboarding, loan origination, and document management tools for financial institutions. Its ongoing push into global markets shows strong appetite for tailored fintech beyond the U.S.
- Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU)
Known for QuickBooks and TurboTax, Intuit is embedding AI deeper into its platforms. Its Smart Insights engine helps small business users forecast cash flow and identify potential compliance risks, giving Intuit sticky recurring revenue.
- DocuSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: DOCU)
Once synonymous with e-signatures, DocuSign now serves enterprise clients with contract lifecycle AI, clause comparison tools, and real-time red flag detection. The shift from transactional to strategic services is boosting retention.
- Avalara, Inc. (Acquired by Vista Equity Partners)
Though taken private in 2022, Avalara's sales tax automation legacy remains influential. Competitors and startups alike now emulate its niche-first approach to tackle everything from digital goods to blockchain asset compliance.
One Startup Is Quietly Building a Bridge Across All Three
It’s not often you find a company solving compliance, escrow, and retail inefficiencies with the same tech spine. But one platform company may have cracked the code.
While giants like Intuit and DocuSign cater to the top of the market, a lesser-known platform company is earning attention by solving gritty, high-friction problems in overlooked verticals—using AI, quantum-resilient encryption, and mobile-first interfaces to power its stack.
- In auto retail, it’s offering a solution for 60,000+ independent car dealerships in the U.S. that still rely on fragmented paper workflows. Early beta tests of its digitized sales and inventory tools have reportedly boosted dealer revenue by up to $20,000/month through faster throughput and smarter pricing.
- In legal, design, and contracting fields, its Buy-Now-Pay-Later-compatible escrow product gives firms a way to transfer large files and payments with full traceability, replacing insecure FTP and consumer tools with enterprise-grade alternatives.
- And in tax accounting, it's stepping into the crypto minefield with AI-guided compliance software that helps CPAs calculate gains/losses across wallets and generate ready-to-file documents. With tax management software demand rising sharply, this is a timely play (source).
Unlike bloated enterprise suites, each product is SaaS-priced—from $99 to $999/month—making adoption easy for small firms, but powerful enough to scale with larger clients. The modular approach gives the company exposure to three different billion-dollar markets, while reducing platform risk from regulatory or demand shocks in any single vertical.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to fintech, not every opportunity is about disrupting banks or building the next Venmo. Sometimes, it’s about quietly fixing what’s broken in real-world business operations—securely, efficiently, and without needing a dedicated IT department to deploy.
For investors, platform companies with sector-specific focus, multi-market exposure, and SaaS fundamentals could represent one of the most asymmetric bets of the decade—especially those avoiding the VC echo chamber and quietly building traction with SMBs.
Click here to read the full BNN Bloomberg feature on one such emerging company poised to capitalize on this shift.
