As part of its fintech bonanza, the NY Times Dealbook has put together a timeline of 'The Evolution of Fintech', which highlights key fintech innovations, from the pantelegraph in 1865, to Bitcoin in 2009.
1865 The pantelegraph, invented by Giovanni Caselli, starts operation between Paris and Lyon, France. It is most commonly used to verify signatures in banking transactions. ... 2009 Version 0.1 of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin is released and includes a generation system intended to create 21 million bitcoins through 2040.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/business/dealbook/the-evolution-of-fintech.html