India’s fintech business has shown a exceptional development trajectory in current instances, possessing undergone a radical transformation. According to a current report by Research and Markets, as of March 2020, India accounted for the highest fintech adoption price, a whopping 87 per cent, out of all the emerging markets in the world, falling second only to China. In 2019, the fintech market place in India was valued at more than Rs 1,920 billion and is projected to cross Rs 6,207 billion by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 22.7 per cent.
With such noteworthy progress, it is no surprise that client expectations are also on the rise. Increased world-wide-web penetration and smartphone usage have enabled persons to fulfil virtually all their monetary needs with the click of a button. This is accurate for the vast majority of the country’s urban population. Gone are the days when we required to make a number of trips to bank branches for a variety of motives – be it for uncomplicated functions such as money/cheque deposit, or more in depth ones such as availing loans or credit cards. Today, all we have to have to do is just open the relevant mobile application on our smartphones and virtually just about every monetary service is offered beneath one roof. Tier-III, tier-IV cities, and India’s hinterlands, even so, inform a diverse story.
Despite technological advancements in the fintech sector across the nation, a important percentage of the population, specifically in rural regions call for help when it comes to gaining access to a hassle-totally free practical experience to fulfil their monetary needs. To address this, top business players are ramping up their efforts to assure that citizens even in remote pockets of India can have frictionless experiences by acting as one-quit destinations supplying a plethora of services.
The COVID-19 predicament
When we look at the development of fintech in 2020, we just can’t overlook the pandemic. The devastating effect of the outbreak has substantially lowered money transactions in urban cities owing to security issues. But in rural locations, a vast majority of persons rely on money for their day-to-day transactions – be it buying groceries, or even paying for transport. Aside from this, the older generation in the hinterlands may call for help when it comes to meeting their every day monetary needs such as withdrawing money or availing a loan or even for insurance coverage.
The pandemic not only brought the world to a full standstill but also produced an adverse effect on millions of persons in remote locations by cutting off their access to the outdoors world due to a series of lockdowns. Unavailability of public transport, social distancing norms, restricted working hours of the handful of banks present in the vicinity, and beneath-staffing at the bank branches added to their woes.
For instance, a modest-time farmer in a remote village in UP or Odisha relies largely on money to sell his generate at the nearby mandi, paying octroi and to obtain other groceries at the markets. And bank branches may not be effortlessly accessible. Since the onset of the pandemic, due to strict social distancing norms, public transportation has been halted temporarily, producing it practically not possible for him to access the bank and deposit/ withdraw money to/from his account.
All in one resolution
The above-described array of challenges produced a considerable gap in banking facilities and posed a lot of challenges for these in the country’s hinterlands. It became practically not possible to even carry out their day-to-day transactions, and the course of action of going to banks and withdrawing money was tedious. Aiming to bridge the gap and strengthen monetary inclusion across the nation, organizations in the fintech sector, especially begin-ups started to stop by the houses of persons in remote pockets of the nation to help them with their every day monetary requirements.
Right from doorstep money delivery to insurance coverage coverage, Recharges & Bill payments and even, emerging fintech players are supplying virtually all monetary services beneath a single umbrella, appropriate at the customer’s doorstep. These all-in-one options have addressed the monetary troubles faced by India’s rural population to a significant extent enabling them to withdraw money via AePS (Aadhar-enabled Payment Systems) and carry out other transactions from the comfort of their houses with enough help from banking correspondents and agents.
To sum it up, technologies is advancing at a breakneck pace bringing us ground-breaking fin-tech innovations that assure comfort and security, not just in metro cities but in the hinterlands of the nation as effectively. That getting stated, the future of the fintech business will undoubtedly include things like all-in-one payment options that simplify the general course of action of banking.
by Amit Nigam, COO and Executive Director of BANKIT