What was 2018's No. 1 credit union tech story? Was it core functionality expansion though fintech, enhanced member experience, the emergence of artificial intelligence, data analytics or the digitalization of services?

All of the above received head-of-table settings – along with cyber threats. In this first installment of a three-part review of industry professionals' feedback on the year's top tech trends, we'll focus on fintech itself as well as artificial intelligence. Subsequent articles appearing in the CU Times Tech Center will focus on other trendsetting topics as submitted by the experts.

The transformed meaning of the term "fintech" became more obvious in 2018. At one time, it was short for financial technology companies that laid a core-processing foundation and still provide much of the technological banking infrastructure. But now, fintech often also refers to the groundbreaking companies developing new solutions in response to consumer demands and, in many cases, to replace legacy systems.