Statistica notes a 42% increase in the number of Fintech start-ups globally from 2019. Now at 20,925 in 2020, the EMEA region has seen the largest growth from the previous year, rising by 51% to 7,385; this closes the gap slightly with North America which, with 8775 start-ups recorded, has had a 44% increase from the previous year.

The market has proven to be highly reactive to trends within the Financial Sector, particularly notable across 2020 with the COVID-19 crisis highlighting the need to shift to digital services. Here challenger banks have seemingly had an advantage, with some conventional banks playing catch-up to develop new workarounds and transform their offerings. It also follows the closure of 3,300 bank branches in the UK between 2015 and 2019.

Technology within the sector has encouraged competition and inspired growth.

Challenger banks have made strides in terms of the development of cashless/alternative payment options and user-friendly platforms, as well as making online and mobile banking more accessible. Both these concepts are not novel; however, FinTech institutions have taken these ideas to a new level for both consumer and corporate customers.

Leading organisations within the FinTech industry have responded to macro trends such as AI, Blockchain, Crypto-Investment and Token Metrics, Machine Learning, Data and Open Banking, Security and Customer Experience which will all define product, service and technology throughout 2021.

Given this, we take a look at four of the fastest-growing FinTechs which are set to disrupt the scene further in 2021…

Adyen 

The Dutch payments firm was founded in 2006, its name Surinamese for “Start over again”. Adyen’s platform enables merchants to accept payments in a single system. It has also partnered with San Francisco based Affirm to offer a new instalment plan service utilising buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) technology.

Adyen obtained a European acquiring license and opened office locations in San Francisco, London, Paris and Stockholm in 2012. It then attained acquiring licenses for Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand in 2017. Flash forward to 2020 and Adyen’s stock was reportedly the best-performing in Europe (up almost 120%), increasing its market value to nearly $60 billion. It now has offices in 23 countries, announcing plans to expand into the Middle East following the opening of their Dubai base.  

Lanistar

Lanistar is a Mastercard-backed fintech company based in London which has claimed to have developed the “most secure” debit card technology; this will launch in January following a bold and viral marketing campaign utilising the networks of 3,000 influencers across Instagram and TikTok.

Lanistar has sought a £1bn valuation due to this technology, however, have found themselves in hot water with the Financial Conduct Authority who claimed that the company was ‘carrying on regulated activities which require authorisation’. They removed this warning after Lanistar made changes to its website and marketing activity.

Primer 

Founded in 2020 by two former senior employees of Braintree (PayPal owned), Primer lets merchants manage payments through their API based service and developer-first checkout libraries; this enables customers to build a payments infrastructure and transaction flows.

The London Head-quartered FinTech has recently announced that it has secured £14 million in a Series A funding round led by Accel topping the total up to 17.8 million. Primer currently employs 23 people across six countries and has stated that recent funding will be used for business development overseas to scale their team.

Revolut 

In 2018, Revolut became the first British challenger digital bank to achieve unicorn status. After just two years, Revolut has also announced plans to expand into the US market following an initial launch in March 2020. Revolut has said it will utilise the Fin-fluencer trend to launch a large-scale campaign, promoting the brand and services stateside. This comes after the appointment of Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, the former Head of International Personal Bank (US) at Citigroup Inc, to the US board of directors.

Closer to home, in addition to Revolut’s core offering (the facilitation of capital exchanges, the ability to buy crypto-currency and gold, and personal finance management), the business has moved toward merchant acquiring. This proposition will be rolled out across thirteen European countries and will enable businesses to accept direct online card payments. Another exciting development allows UK workers to access their salary a day early through Bacs credit and Revolut’s long-term payments partner Modulr. 

Special Mention: Google Plex

Eleven financial institutions including; Citi and the Stanford Credit Union have announced partnerships with Google for the 2021 launch of Google Plex. Google Plex accounts will have no charges to overdrafts, no monthly fees, and do not have a minimum balance requirement. Activity tracking and reporting, moving money between accounts and creating repeat transfers are all supported features. Google Plex also allows customers to create, and set goals, such as a holiday fund.

Updates to Google Pay will precede the launch of the finance hub. Google says that the new Google Pay app has been designed to emphasise customer’s financial relationships, showing the people and companies that they have had transactions with and grouping them accordingly. Google has also built functionality to request or send money through an in-app chat and a way to automatically split bills.

As the FinTech sector looks to a post-COVID world, regulation looks to be a point of contention. The financial sector and compliance and risk go hand in hand.

However, there looks to be a more rigorous approach when it comes to regulating FinTech platforms. Whilst Regtech may grow in tandem with FinTech, many including H.B. Lim the Director of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Abu Dhabi Global Market have warned that too much regulation may encumber innovation.

Despite this, the sector looks unlikely to slow down.

At Insight, we are prepared to see another rise in FinTech related vacancies. Our Technology Recruitment team is primed to work with clients within the industry, having serviced a variety of FinTech companies in 2020. If you have a requirement, get in touch with our specialists today!