Fintechs are booming all over the world. In fact, there is a huge competition between various countries, and within a country, within various cities, to attract the maximum number of Fintechs. Fintechs themselves are driven by two things – availability of talent and access to the BFSI companies. About a thousand Fintechs are estimated to start-up every year all over the world. The number of those aspiring to start a Fintech would be many times more.
A recent research report published by Banking Frontiers in association with Accenture, titled Digital Directions & Transformation 2018 shared some numbers. Analysing the data collected from the various sources including banks, there have been 1650 Fintech start-ups in India. But the pace of them fizzling out is high as well. About 1100 of them have shut down during 2017. Some of them are truly innovative, but they lack the ability / understanding to commercialize their innovation. There is an international market for many of these failed innovations, viz some who can commercialize their innovative products.
Fintechs are pushing open the doors for e-commerce by helping overcome traditional barriers such as fear of frauds and limited payment options. Some Indian Fintechs are setting up base overseas – particularly Singapore. Overall, Asia has emerged as the hub of Fintech innovation and excitement.
Many bankers whose views were taken for the research report nominated Singapore as the epicentre of the Fintech revolution that is reshaping the world. The Singapore government not only supports Fintechs from a policy perspective, but also funds them. Singapore based banks too are actively partnering with Fintechs.
Middle East is an emerging Fintech hub, according to the bankers. The huge immigrant population in the Middle East region has drawn Fintechs to offer new kinds of financial services relating to forex, payments, comparisons, etc. Fintech is likened to the new oil for the Middle East economies.
The research report is available at https://www.payumoney.com/webfronts/#/index/Bankingfrontiers
