Elite Paper – RISE OF FINTECH PLATFORMS IN INDIA
In its broadest sense, the definition of FinTech (financial technology) is the use of technology as it applies to the financial sector. This includes areas such as payments, insurance, investment management, deposits and lending, capital raising, and market provisioning. Finance companies have always used technology to make their businesses faster, safer, more productive, and more global. But now FinTech is disrupting the entire nature of finance.
What is a Fintech Company ?. The rise of new and cutting-edge technology allows small start-up companies to offer financial services outside of traditional banking. For the first time, consumers can bypass the bankers, brokers, and middlemen. Now, people can deal directly with businesses or other consumers.
For example, companies like PayPal send payments directly to merchants or between people. And peer-to-peer lending companies like CreditEnable brings borrowers and lenders together. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies store money digitally, simplifying international payments and bypassing governments as well as financial institutions. These are just a few examples how fintech leaves banks out of the equation. Recently, the term fintech has expanded beyond financing, or areas like peer-to-peer lending, and now covers any service or product the financial sector once did.
How does Fintech Work ?.
Fintech generally slips into places where traditional financial services are failing, or where customers are having a difficult time accessing services. Tech companies will fix those issues and keep an adequate profit margin. The World Economic Forum says fintech is taking over traditional services in these areas:
Payments
Deposits and Lending
Investment Management
Insurance
Capital Raising
Market Provisioning
Payments: The internet and new technology make payments simple, fast and secure. Some companies have one click check-outs. It’s now possible to eliminate credit cards with direct bank payments to merchants. Or payments via the phone avoid cash or credit cards altogether.
PayPal is the grandfather of online payment systems but new companies, like NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) allow, banks to settle transactions between each other, bypassing central banks and lowering costs. Customers can set up automatic bill payments. They now deposit cheques with a snap of a picture on their phone. You can use your phone to collect payments. Voice, face, or fingerprint recognition and geo-location ensure security.
Players in the field include:
Mobile payments: Paytm, Google Pay, BHIM Axis Pay,
PhonePe, ICICI Pockets.
Integrated billing: Uber, MargERP 9+.
Streamlined payments: Google Pay, Amazon Pay, NPCI.
Next-generation security: Akamai, Skyflow.
Deposits and Lending : With fintech, you no longer need to keep money in a bank. You don’t have to borrow from a financial institution. Angel investing and peer-to-peer lending cut out the banks. They use computerized processes to assess creditworthiness. You can borrow money for personal or business needs from private lenders.
Finally, you can now store funds in alternative locations from cryptocurrencies to trading platforms.
Players in the field include :
Peer-to-peer lending: LendBox, Faircent
Credit assessment: Perfios, CreditVidya, NovaCredit
Investment Management: Fintech gives ordinary investors more control over their money. New trading platforms offer small traders investment choices formerly available only to high-net worth investors. With reduced fees, easier access, and customer education all users have the freedom to manage money without a broker and choose every investment. Investments can be small amounts of money. One can choose computer assisted trading or social trading. This way one can build on the expertise of others. With some platforms, one can move beyond stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to trade bitcoin, currencies, and other commodities.
Players in the field include:
Automated management & advice: Angel Broking ARQ, Paisa Auto Investor, Scripbox, FundsIndia
Copy trading: AvaTrade (AvaSocial), IC Markets (ZuluTrade)
Algorithmic trading: Zerodha Streak, Tradetron Tech, Robotrader.
Insurance : Big data now allows insurers set rates based on user actions, credit score, perhaps even social media profile. Wearable technology measures one’s health and fitness. The Internet of Things (IoT) brings smarter cheaper devices to disseminate data. And self-driving cars are set to disrupt the insurance industry. These all impact life and the cost one may pay for insurance. But fintech also levels the field. One can go online to compare rates and insurers as well as check reviews.
Players in the field include:
Comparative shopping sites: InsuranceDekho, Coverfox
Shared economy: co-working (Awfis, WeWork India), co-living (Stanza Living, OYO Life)
Hedge funds and insurance-linked securities: Munoth Hedge Fund, Forefront Alternative Investment Trust, Quant First Alternative Investment Trust and IIFL Opportunities Fund
Capital Raising : Fintech opened the world of business financing. Now start-ups and mid-sized companies can find capital outside banks, hedge funds, or affluent investors. And ordinary investors can pool funds with others to gain a share of the company. Investments can be spread across several businesses, in companies before they go public or donation to charitable ventures that may not bring a return is possible.
Players in the field include:
Crowd approved funding: Kickstarter, Wishberry, Indiegogo, FuelADream
Custom business funding: Ketto
Market Provisioning : This fintech area uses smarter and faster machines for machine-based trading. It’s the next step past algorithmic high-speed trading. The machines respond to real-life events. Powerful computers analyze huge chunks of information to suggest trades and trends. They read the news and social media to predict price changes and potentially gain a trading advantage. AI and machine learning run predictive modeling and are self-correcting. This can improve the accuracy, consistency, and speed of trading.
Players in the field include:
Machine accessible data: Thomson Reuters
Big data: SAS, Palantir, Hadoop
Artificial intelligence & machine learning: Capital Float, Coverfox, Creditmate, Flexiloans
