The Indian fintech industry has undergone a dramatic transformation and has recently shown remarkable growth. According to a recent report by Research & Market, as of March 2020, India has the highest fintech adoption rate in the world, with 87% of all emerging markets in the world, second only to China.
The fintech market in India was valued at Rs 1,920 billion in 2019 and is expected to cross Rs 6,207 billion by 2025, expanding to 22.7 percent CAGR. With such remarkable progress, it is not surprising that customer
expectations are also on the rise.
Increased internet penetration and smartphone use have enabled people to meet their financial needs at the click of a button. This is also true of the vast majority of urban dwellers in the country. Gone are the days when we had to make multiple trips to bank branches for a variety of reasons, from simple operations like cash/cheque deposits or more advanced activities like loans or credit cards.
Today, all we have to do is open the relevant mobile app on our smartphones and all financial services are available under one roof. Tier-III, tier-IV cities, and the hinterlands of India tell a different story. Despite technological advances in the fintech sector across the country, a significant percentage of the population, especially in rural areas, needs help when they have access to a seamless experience to meet their economic needs.
To address this, leading industry players are stepping up efforts to ensure that India has a friction-free experience by serving as one-off destinations that offer a wide range of services to its citizens, even in remote pockets.
A small-time farmer in a remote village in UP or Odisha relies mainly on selling his produce locally, paying octroi, and buying other groceries at the markets. Bank branches may not be easily accessible. Since the onset of the epidemic, public transportation has been suspended due to strict social
distance compliance, making it impossible to access the bank and withdraw money from his account.
Solution: The challenges mentioned above have created a significant gap in banking facilities and have created many challenges for those in the hinterland of the country. Even making their day-to-day transactions became impossible, the process of visiting banks and withdrawing money was laborious.
Aiming to bridge the gap across the country and improve financial inclusion, companies in the fintech sector, especially startups, are visiting the homes of people in remote pockets of the country to help them with their daily financial needs. From door-to-door cash delivery to insurance
coverage recharges and bill payments, emerging FinTech players offer almost all financial services under one umbrella, right at the
customer’s doorstep. All these have solved to some extent the financial problems faced by the rural people of India, who can withdraw
money through AEPS (Aadhaar enabled payment systems) and make other transactions from the comfort of their homes with adequate assistance of banking correspondents and agents.
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