Fintech startups look beyond lending

NEW DELHI: Fintech has been responsible for transforming how new age consumers view finance. By infusing technology, fintech startups devised new products and services or modified the existing ones with the core goal of enhancing the consumer experience. There is a shared objective of creating value for the customers through the unique offerings and with consumer convenience and safety at its helm.

The industry provides services across sectors such as neobanking, payment gateways, wallets, insuretech, investtech, and personal finance tech, among others. Fintech startups have plugged the gaps between the consumer requirement and the existing offerings to bring more people under the umbrella of organized finance in India.

In addition, certain fintech startups are also providing comprehensive services to their customers to ensure a hassle-free experience. Take OneStack for instance. The founders have created what they hail as a super app that encourages the users to save, spend, lend and grow their wealth within their bank accounts. The single unified dashboard of the app displays the users’ assets and liabilities, as well as, their balance sheets without having to switch from one app to another.

“We provide a new-age neobanking experience by integrating a myriad of financial products to redefine the customers’ banking journey,” said Amit Kapoor, co-founder, OneStack. “With the limited time and the vast expanse of personal and professional commitments, one is left with little or no time to understand or purchase different financial products from different service providers. The next-gen solutions cater to banking, payments, investments, insurance, and lending needs of our customers, all under the same roof.”

Fintech startups in India have also brought about financial inclusion through digitally-enabled mass outreach of financial products. On the other hand, some startups are focussed to cater to the gig economy audiences who do not have a regular flow of income and hence, are often shunned by traditional financial service providers. PoddL (formerly Glimpay) is working actively towards giving an impetus to the creator economy and freelance professionals such as content creators, part-time workers, and students. The holistic app enables them to send and receive payments seamlessly.

“PoddL recognizes the burgeoning population of freelancers as more and more millennials and GenZ joins the creator and influencer bandwagon,” said Kushal Prakash, founder, PoddL. “We are on a mission to provide a marketplace for independent professionals that provides them access to a sophisticated wallet and full-cycle Workflow tools to manage their Work, finances and taxes on a common, unified platform. Our state-of-the-art technology helps freelancers become at par, financially, with their full-time working counterparts.”

Full-stack apps are fast becoming a preferred partner of choice for today’s customers. “We are living in the era of Smart and Instant services and the trend is being extrapolated to financial services, as well. Gauging the consumer needs, we are providing convenience through features such as five minutes account opening, automated investments, and real-time track of savings and investments, among others. Our aim is to help our customers with detailed financial planning, end-to-end,” said Abhinav Nayar, CEO, Mool.

Fintech start-ups are helping in introducing services that are priced competitively and hence, nominal. Furthermore, they are pushing the existing services to be revamped and transformed, which benefits the end consumers. Leveraging AI, Big Data, machine learning, blockchain, these startups have the potential to propel the economy forward.