Fintech is the financial technology that has been developed in order to enable individuals and businesses to more efficiently manage and track their finances.
It includes aspects like:
- Online banking: It allows for people to manage their finances from the comfort of their homes. It also facilitates online payments, account transfers, etc.
- Peer-to-peer lending: The process of lending funds from one person directly to another one for a set period of time with a set interest rate. This is a little different than getting a payday loan in Canada or something.
- Mobile banking: The ability to use your smartphone or tablet as a bank account, which makes it possible for you to carry your money everywhere you go. You can also use it to deposit or withdraw cash, pay bills, etc.
Famous Fintech Companies
Fintech companies have been a major industry disruptor over the past decade. With stricter regulations on traditional financial institutions, startups have been popping up all over the world.
Especially with some great innovations in financial products.
Let’s take a look at some of the most famous Fintech companies that are making waves by leveraging innovation, and technology.
The recent Fintech revolution has seen more fintech startups emerging from all parts of Europe, Asia, North America and South America.
All to offer new ways to innovate in finance.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these:
1) Transferwise
2) Wealthfront
3) Robinhood
4) Etoro
5) Credit Karma
Transferwise
Transferwise is a global money transfer service that offers its customers a better deal than bank transfers.
They were established in 2011 and have since grown to be one of the most popular and trusted global money transfer services. They provide customers with an easy and efficient way to transfer funds between currencies, and at competitive exchange rates.
Transfers to other Transferwise customers are free, while exchanges with banks or other providers involve Transferwise’s low margin rates. This enables Transferwise to offer their service at much lower cost than banks, which has helped them grow in popularity over the years.
Wealthfront
Wealthfront is an online investment company that provides financial advice to people who are looking to invest their money. Founded in 2011 by Andy Rachleff, Wealthfront's clients are predominantly millennials.
An American financial services company, Wealthfront is headquartered in Redwood City, California. It provides online financial advisory services to clients with at least $1 million in investable assets.
Wealthfront was founded by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll in 2008. Wealthfront began as an online investment advisor but has evolved into a modern-day financial management system for all of its clients' needs. With Wealthfront, clients get access to a comprehensive, "robo-advisor" style of service for everything from day trading to saving for retirement.
This company definitely has a good number of customers.
Let’s see how the future pans out for these guys.
Robinhood
Robinhood, a US company with a mobile app, is changing the stock purchase and trade industry by charging zero commission.
Their Robinhood app is a mobile trading app that is available for both iOS and Android. The app provides commission-free trade on U.S.-based stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies. The company aims to democratize the financial markets by providing free access to financial markets to all its users.
The Robinhood app was founded by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt in 2013, who were former Stanford University classmates. It was initially launched as an invite-only beta version in November 2014. The application became public for download after it had been fully developed in late 2015.
Robinhood has so far received $539 million in funds from investors such as Index Ventures, NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures and Howard Lindzon's Social Leverage Incorporated.
These guys are definitely becoming a household name and at a rapid clip.
Etoro
Etoro is a social trading network that was established in 2007. The site allows for trading of popular financial market instruments such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities. It also offers micro investing via the Copy Trader functionality.
This fintech company has over 6 million registered users and is headed by Yoni Assia. Its headquarters are located in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Etoro has a very noticeable global presence as well. Especially online.
Credit Karma
Credit Karma is a personal finance company that provides free credit scores and reports. It also offers tools to help people understand their credit score and make a budget.
Credit Karma is a company with a mission of improving the financial lives of American consumers. It does this by providing free credit scores and reports, including the VantageScore.
It has raised over $127 million in funding from investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, New World Ventures, Draper Associates, Ping-An Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank Capital Partners Fund II, Inveready Partners LP and Tiger Ventures.