Along with China, India has the world’s highest awareness quotient for fintech
The adoption rate for public and private fintech products is 87% in India
The EY report expects AI and blockchain to drive new fintech services
Globally, India and China are leading the fintech adoption in the world. According to a new report by EY, the adoption of fintech rose to over 60%, of which the significant chunk was contributed by emerging markets such as India and China.
The Global Fintech Adoption Index 2019 report said that both Asian countries have about 99.5% of consumers aware of money transfer and mobile payment platforms and standards. The adoption rate in both China and India stand at 87%, followed by Russia and South Africa at 82%.
It further added that the expectations of customers have evolved and banks, as well as insurers and wealth managers, have offered services that are digitally accessible and technologically forward.
In India, the demonetisation of 2016 played a crucial role in expanding the fintech industry as it decreased the circulation of paper currencies and promoted cashless means of transactions. The industry was also marked by the arrival of traditional financial firms, which further led to the adoption of fintech.
The adopters of fintech prefer online and app-based financial products, even though there have been concerns about personal data security from the apps that operate on this platform. The report also found that three out of four consumers have used a money transfer and payments that involved a fintech service.
Insurance continued to show strong adoption as well. Nearly half the consumers globally used a premium comparison site, feeding information into an insurance-linked smart device, or buying products such as peer-to-peer insurance, the report said.
Globally, there are only 4% of consumers who are not aware of the money transfer, added the report. About 27% of respondents to the survey said the pricing was their top priority while choosing a fintech service, while 2% preferred the ease of opening an account.
Increasing Awareness And Fintech Penetration
The report explained that growth in fintech would be driven both by an increased market penetration for existing services and the global spread of less mature propositions that are currently only available in a few markets. New schemes are expected to enter more markets in the future, either by international scaling and expansion or through “harmonization,” whereby similar services are provided in each region by fintech startups.
It is also anticipated that new technologies, such as AI and blockchain, will continue to spur the creation of entirely new fintech services.
