In the past two decades, technology has made its debut in every walk of life and banking and financial services are no exception to it. With the support of technology, the field of finance has seen multiple-fold enhancement from transferring money online to managing investments, everything is possible with a few clicks on one’s mobile phone. This combination of finance and technology has given birth to a new term – ‘FinTech’ and companies involved in fintech business are taking pace on the corporate front. Let’s further decode the meaning of FinTech and know some of the best fintech companies in India.
What is FinTech?
FinTech stands for Financial Technology. As the name suggests, FinTech involves the use of technology to ease the business activities relating to banking and finance. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), instant payments, machine learning, cloud computing, etc. have helped the finance business. It is with the help of FinTech that you can check the real-time balance of your bank account on mobile. From taking an online insurance policy in a few minutes to borrowing a loan from a digital lender, FinTech is making our lives simpler than we could’ve ever imagined!
Best Fintech Companies in India
In the past five years, there has been a tremendous rise in the number of fintech start-ups in India. Especially in the pandemic era, there was a larger outturn owing to exponential increment in financial markets awareness. While many fintech start-ups gained momentum during this period, old players in the field found opportunities to expand their businesses intensely. We shall briefly look into the top 5 fintech companies in India from different sectors.
1. Paytm:
- Paytm, operating in the digital payments segment is one of the leading wallet services in the country.
- It is owned by One97 Communications Limited and founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010.
- Paytm has raised 2.2 Billion dollars since its launch.
- Paytm has taken over companies like Insider.in, Little, Cube26, and Nearbuy.
2. Zerodha:
- Zerodha is one of the biggest discount brokers in India. This private fintech company provides services in the WealthTech segment.
- It was founded by the Kamath brothers in 2010 and is based in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
- This fintech provides a trading and investing platform and allied services to over five million customers and has earned profits of more than INR 1000 crore in FY 2020-21.
- Out of total daily activity by retail participants in the financial markets, Zerodha puts up about 15% of the total volumes.
3. Incred:
- Incred is a Mumbai-based FinTech providing non-banking financial services since 2017.
- They lend finance to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and also lend personal loans, two-wheeler loans, education loans, home loans to individuals.
- Bhupinder Singh founded the company, who is also the current CEO of this FinTech.
- Incred took over InstaPaisa.com six years ago.
- With the help of data science, they are making the business of lending a simplified process for hassle-free experience to its customers.
4. Acko:
- Acko is an InsurTech or InsureTech company that uses technology to ease the insurance business by taking it online.
- Acko was founded by Varun Dua in 2016 and is based in Mumbai.
- Under the license of IRDA, this FinTech provides fully online insurance services to its customers.
- Amazon, Accel, Catamaran invested in Acko over INR 270 crores in total.
5. ClearTax:
- With an aim to simplify finances, ClearTax provides services in the segment of RegTech to fulfil regulatory requirements of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
- Archit Gupta, Ankit Solanki, and Srivatsan Chari cofounded this FinTech in 2011 and are now based in Bengaluru.
- They provide ITR filing, e-invoicing, e-Waybill, GST, TDS, and vendor management services to individuals and businesses.
- Using cloud computing technology, this FinTech also provides a ClearTaxCloud platform for tax professionals to quickly file ITR filing of their clients.
Conclusion
FinTech companies are changing the lives of people by making them more literate about finances and guiding them towards a secure life and financial freedom. With the help of technology, it is breaking down the traditional practices and advancing help to overcome customer’s financial obstacles. FinTech empowers investors to analyze various investment options and evaluate opportunities by themselves. Investors can track the live performance of their investment right on their phone screens. Ashika Group is one such FinTech company that offers Dhanush app for investor welfare. You can check out the Dhanush app to learn more about getting live updates on your portfolio of investments.
Also Read: When is the Right Time to Invest In Capital Markets India