Fintech continues heating up well beyond just cryptomania and blockchain. With growing funding and a flood of talent coming in, there’s ever-rising competition for investment, eyeballs and relevance.

As a fintech startup adviser focused on PR, media and strategic partnerships, my work involves connecting entrepreneurs with large financial services companies, investors, customers and talent, helping them to create products and narratives that engage and stand out from the crowded field.

The fintech companies gaining real traction with customers, investors, top talent and large strategic partners are getting certain things right where others are falling down.

Here are five things the winners nailed that newcomers must do to compete:

1. Build a seamless digital customer experience (CX) customized to each set of eyeballs, across platforms — plus, make financial services ubiquitous, instead of an unfortunate necessity.

Friction from long sign-up and enrollment processes has largely disappeared. Successful UI/UX is simple and intuitive, responding to each new potential customer more intelligently through advanced CRM, starting with the first encounter and persisting to the point of sale and well beyond.

Inside the world of modern digital CX, onboarding is a breeze and contracts are paperless and seamless. More than occasional — and fearful — checking of one’s balances and credit scores, there is a simple dashboard of investments and performance at a tap or click. This makes it frictionless to integrate finances into the news feed of daily life.