back Back

FinTech 2021 roundup: A year of instantaneous growth

By Puja Sharma

December 29, 2021

  • AI
  • BNPL
  • COVID-19
Share

The pandemic has only reinforced the necessity and penetration of digital services across industries. It has turned out to be a silver lining for the country’s digital finance sector.

The global FinTech market can be segmented based on technology, service, application, and regional analysis. Based on technology, the market can be segmented into API, AI, blockchain, distributed computing, and others.

Among them, artificial intelligence (AI) led in the market in 2019 with a share of 38.25% and the trend is likely to continue through 2025. AI interfaces and chatbots have primarily redefined customer service, and its expanding business will enable the AI-oriented fintech market to grow at an impressive rate through 2025.

As the year draws to a close, we endeavor to distill 2021 achievements, from FinTech startups.

Mandar Agashe, Founder & Vice-Chairman, Sarvatra Technologies

Compared to the previous year, the Indian economy had a better phase in 2021, as the pandemic slowed in the second half of the year and the economy reopened. As a result, large banks, small finance banks, as well as cooperative banks witnessed growth in the number of digital transactions done through UPI, AePS, etc. With the help of better banking technology and services, the larger banks in the country, as well as small finance banks and cooperative banks, are serving the customers better.

The government and RBI have played a significant role in creating space for better adaption of digital modes of transactions. Semi-urban and rural India is slowly pacing their way to use more technology-enabled banking facilities. To achieve the dream of a “Digital India”, the focus should be on encouraging more digital transaction methods and infrastructure improvements along with policies that will enable the large and medium players in the sector to be tech-innovators.

The coming year is likely to be fruitful in case the infrastructural challenges are appropriately addressed, easier regulative reforms are introduced and rural India is encouraged to undertake more and more digital transactions with the support of large private sector banks, small finance banks, cooperative banks, NBFCs, and other financial institutions. With various measures undertaken by Government, RBI, and NPCI, the year 2022 is likely to witness accelerated growth in innovation in the digital payments space.

Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby

Reflecting closely over the last couple of years with a “glass half full” mindset, I feel the best thing to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic was its emphasis on the need for symbiotic connections between fintech and banking. The pandemic has only reinforced the necessity and penetration of digital services across industries. It has turned out to be a silver lining for the country’s digital finance sector.

In this journey, we are grateful to the 41+ lakh micro-entrepreneurs who have chosen us as their partner, bolstering this paradigm shift. It is they who have played a key role in sustaining our social and economic fabric when we faced unique and evolving challenges this year.

In 2021, our business throughput was ~Rs 5,900 Crores every month, and we generated ₹290 Crores revenue for our retail partners. Besides, to ensure that every citizen has access to cash anytime, anywhere, we have also built a distribution network of one lakh Micro ATMs across the country. This added strength to our robust Aadhaar ATM network, which is servicing more than Rs 3500 Crores withdrawals monthly.

By using our tech-led distribution network of 41+ lakh micro-entrepreneurs across 17, 600+ PIN codes, we are working to facilitate money movement seamlessly and securely for everyone at the last mile. Besides this, our patent for an invention in Hyperlocal Retailing, for our system and method for invoicing, inventory tracking, and sales tracking, is already making the lives of our retail partners easy.

We believe the country’s vision of ‘Digital India’, will be achieved by driving digitization from Bharat, where 70% of the population resides. In the process, small and medium businesses like Kirana stores will play a vital role as we move in 2022. We believe 2022 will be a year of customization in offering financial services, depending on region or language. And, retail stores will be the significant distribution point for these customized financial products.

Bhavin Patel, Founder & CEO, LenDenClub

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending is a new-age investment class that can build a safe future and brightens up the present simply by being a prudent investor. The first two waves of Covid-19 have profoundly revolutionized the way individuals invest, especially the millennials. The post-Covid age is poised to witness a radical 180-degree turn in digital lending. P2P lending will be seen as a leading alternative investment class in less than no time.

P2P lending players will indeed be the real winners offering a unique blend of advanced technologies and quick financial solutions. It is a known fact that India’s formal credit penetration falls well below that of similar emerging nations. In the coming calendar year, the sector will play a crucial role in filling the credit gap by making it accessible to masses from any part of the country. Further, P2P will play a vital role in growing the BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) segment and massive penetration in MSME lending.

Ankit Bhatnagar, Head of Product, Mswipe

In the past year, the sector has shown immense potential – be it strengthening digital payments infrastructure or technological advancements to an integration between the entire ecosystem. Digital payment infrastructure has seen the steepest adoption among SMEs during the last two years.

As a result, small businesses now have an opportunity to go beyond digital payments and avail financial services like lending or embed financial products like BNPL at the checkout stage. Be it a BNPL offering or micro ATM service, or insurance, small retailers have the opportunity to diversify their business, thanks to digital adoption. The government has made payments even more simple with initiatives like E-RUPI which will help increase digital payment acceptance in Tier 2 and 6 in 2022.

In the coming year, we will see a marked focus of fintech towards SME financing to offer a seamless experience for small businesses to access credit, working capital loans through smartphones and smart POS devices. The new buzzword in the industry is also having an ecosystem approach to meet more than one need of a customer. We will see several FinTech moving in that direction especially to embed finance as an offering.

Previous Article

December 29, 2021

Mohammad Khairil Abdullah joins as CEO of VEON Ventures

Read More
Next Article

December 29, 2021

Central Bank of India launches RuPay Business Platinum Debit Card

Read More






IBSi FinTech Journal

  • Most trusted FinTech journal since 1991
  • Digital monthly issue
  • 60+ pages of research, analysis, interviews, opinions, and rankings
  • Global coverage
Subscribe Now

Other Related News

Today

State Bank of India and APIX team to unveil SBI Innovation Hub

Read More

November 06, 2024

Credit on UPI powers India’s festive splurge, fueling local shopping & offline sales

Read More

November 06, 2024

Singapore FinTech Festival 2024: Key Highlights You Can’t Miss

Read More

Related Reports

Sales League Table Report 2024
Know More
Global Digital Banking Vendor & Landscape Report Q3 2024
Know More
NextGen WealthTech: The Trends To Shape The Future Q4 2023
Know More
IBSi Spectrum Report: Supply Chain Finance Platforms Q4 2023
Know More
Treasury & Capital Markets Systems Report Q1 2024
Know More