The term Fintech is derived from the words Financial Technology. It refers to the encompassing of modern, improved technology into financial services to provide better facilities to the customers. Fintech also helps organizations and business owners manage and run their daily financial operations with fewer hassles. It also provides aid to various sectors like education, retail, fundraising, and non-profit organizations, etc. It also includes the growth and use of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin.
Fintech describes any company or organization that provides financial services through software or other technology such as internet/mobile phones for personal and commercial use like money transfer, depositing checks through smartphones, crowdfunding, applying for credit, managing investments, paying for utilities, etc. through safe and secure means without assistance from a live agent.
Paytm is one of the most widely used leading companies of Fintech founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010. It holds a substantial financial market share in India. Times of India reported in June 2020 that 39 million daily active users (DAU) visit Paytm. This is more than Google Pay & PhonePe’s combined DAU.
Besides utility-related financial transactions like paying bills, recharge of DTH, mobile phones, and metro cards, making fund transfers, UPI transactions, booking travel tickets, etc can also be done. Paytm ventured early into wealth management through Paytm Money and E-Commerce through Paytm Mall. One can also avail of exciting offers, cashback, and vouchers while using Paytm.
PhonePe, based in Bangalore, is another leading Fintech company in India. It was founded by Samir Nigam and Rahul Chari in the year 2015 as an e-commerce payment system and digital wallet company. It was acquired by Flipkart in 2016.
PhonePe became the first Indian application to launch UPI based payments in partnership with Yes Bank. It is also used for bill payments, recharge, and shopping. It is available in 11+ Indian languages. PhonePe’s partnerships include RedBus, Ola, and Goibibo.
Policybazaar was founded by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, and Avaneesh Nirjar in 2008 in Gurugram. It is India’s largest insurance aggregator platform built to provide the consumers with correct and transparent insurance information. Interested individuals can compare and buy desired insurance policies after conducting a detailed comparative analysis of various insurances. Policy Bazaar sells approximately 400,000 policies every month.
MobiKwik was launched by Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku in 2009. It is a digital service platform that offers digital wallets, wealth management, insurance, and other financial services. Its user base consists of approximately 107 million users. In 2019, MobiKwik was ranked second largest platform for merchant payments. It was also one of the first platforms to disburse a loan in 90 seconds and had registered a 90% growth in monthly active users.
Founded by Harshvardhan Lunia and Mukul Sachan in 2014, LendingKart lends entrepreneurs easy access to working capital finance. It falls under the category of peer-to-peer lending niche. The company uses big data analytics to evaluate the creditworthiness of debtors. It provides unsecured loans to MSEs and MSMEs who face difficulties in acquiring capital for their businesses. The platform offers 5 regional languages besides English for its users. LendingKart has provided loans to over 73,000 businesses in more than 1300 cities.
Freecharge, a unit of Accelyst Solutions Pvt. Ltd. was launched by Kunal Shah and Sandeep Tandon in August 2010. This Gurugram based Fintech company offers its users a wide range of services apart from utility bill payments.
For example, recharge DTH, Pay for broadband or landline bills, etc. like savings, investments, insurance, and lending facilities. It was acquired by Axis Bank in 2017. SnapDeal, Sofina, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital, and Innoven Capital are its key investors.
Mswipe was launched in 2011 by Manish Patel. It is one of the leading Fintech companies that provide businesses and retailers with a Point of Sales (POS) Terminal that accepts all payments such as cards, chips, magstripe, NFC, and Scan-to-pay QR codes for faster transactions.
The biggest strengths of POS are its ability to work on slower internet connections like 2G, cheaper terminals, and 15 hours of battery life in one single charge. Mswipe helps link laptops, smartphones, computers, and tablets to the bank accounts. It now has a funding of $105 Million and has the vision to create one of India’s largest platforms to support SMEs.
This Mumbai based Fintech company founded by M. N. Srinivasu, Ajay Kaushal, and Karthik Ganapathy in 2000. It is one of the most renowned payment gateway firms in India. Their motto is “All your payments, one single location.” Billdesk manages and organizes the whole process of bills for the consumer. It sets payable and receivable reminders, sorts the bills, and offers one-click payment from anywhere on the platform. It has raised total funding of $257 million and is valued at over $1 billion.
PayU is a Fintech company based in the Netherlands that ventured into the Indian marketplace in 2011. It deals with digital payment services in over 17 countries worldwide. Its operations are spread across Europe, America, Africa, and Latin America besides India. PayU also recorded a 92% jump in its revenues in the past few years.
Ezetap, a digital payments company. It was founded by Abhijit (Bobby) Bose and Bhakta Keshvachar in the year 2011 to provide businesses and financial institutions with intelligent technological transaction solutions. Ezetap’s Universal Payments platform offers a rare ability to accept any payment, through any device, at any place. The company has developed a lightweight card reader that can be plugged into any device that enables all the merchants and cab drivers to accept payments through cards. This has led to the simplification of accepting payments for these merchants and other users.
As the world advances, new technologies emerge to make our lives easier. These technologies help consumers in making better buying decisions efficiently and easily. Some of these innovations have changed the way payments are received and made. These companies have created an eco-system to support SMEs, MSMEs, small merchants, and vendors by simplifying their daily transactions and operations. Indian Fintech companies are evolving at a high rate and will contribute even more to India as well as the global economy.
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