The fintech sector is booming and more and more entrepreneurs are looking to start their own fintech companies. But which are the biggest fintech companies? How did they start? What do they have in common? And how did they get where they are today? Fast Offshore provides a list of some of the biggest names globally and in the US, ad we think you’ll notice they have lots in common.
Globally
When we look at the biggest fintech companies globally, we notice that they all offer the same, or similar services. All started life as delivery facilitators or transport applications. From there, their popularity increased and they all branched out into other services, including digital payments. This demonstrates a global need for on-demand payment and delivery services, as well as ancillary products.
Paytm
Paytm, short for Pay Through Mobile, was launched in India over a decade ago. It provides a range of services in 11 Indian languages, including bill payments, travel, ticket booking, and mobile recharges. It also offers in-store payments for groceries, toys, pharmaceuticals, and globally, it has more than 350 million active users and has even launched its credit card. The reason for its success has been attributed to various factors. Firstly its accessible and easy to use, and it provided users with a simple way to conduct a variety of transactions. Today, there isn’t much it doesn’t offer, and its place in Indian society is firmly cemented.
GoJek
Based in Indonesia, GoJek is an on-demand, multi-service platform with more than 170 million customers. This makes it one of the biggest fintech companies in the world. It covers services in payments, food delivery, transport, logistics, and eCommerce. The company has also expanded into digital payments and is worth more than $10 billion. In May of this year, GoJek announced its merger with another Indonesian super-company, Tokopedia, creating a new company called GoTo. This makes it the countries largest ever merger and has created a new level of fintech business in South East Asia.
Grab
Headquartered in Singapore, Grab provides food delivery, digital payments, and transportation to various countries throughout the region. In recent years, it’s expanded to offer eCommerce, vehicle rentals, hotel and travel reservations, and even insurance to millions of customers. Founded in 2012 by Anthony Tan, it’s currently valued at some $40 billion. Like many other companies on this list, its success is due to capitalizing on the need for convenience and increased app usage. At the end of 2019, the company partnered with MasterCard and created Asia’s first numberless payment card. During the pandemic, it expanded its operations to provide transport services to healthcare workers.
Ant Group
Ant Group is one of the world’s biggest fintech companies and is headquartered in Hangzhou, China. An affiliate of the Alibaba Group, it provides the country’s largest digital payments platform, Alipay. The payment service has more than 1 billion users, and 80 million merchants signed up and using it regularly. The company attempted to raise $34.5 billion in what would have been the world’s largest IPO, but the Chinese government put a halt to plans. Now, the company has been turned into a financial holding company under the state-controlled bank’s supervision. To date, the company employs more than 16,600 staff throughout the country and has profits of over $1 billion.
And in the US?
In the US, the focus shifts towards companies that work with merchants to provide payment services. Those that issue payment processors, cards, and various digital financial solutions are the ones that are thriving. While the US has its fair share of commerce and delivery type businesses, its payments are thriving there.
Stripe
One of the most prominent fintech companies in the US is stripe. A financial services and payment processor, the firm started in 2009 and is present across the EU, APAC, Central America, Asia, and North America. The company specializes in providing payment processing software and APIs for eCommerce and mobile apps. Their products make it much easier for web developers to include payment processing, anti-fraud tools, and billing products into their client’s end-product. Stripe has also created a point of sale service called Terminal, which provides merchants with readers that accept Stripe. In addition to their payment services, they also offer loans and credit cards to US customers and a media to support innovation in business.
Klarna
Klarna is a Swedish company, now headquartered in the US which offers financial services such as payments for eCommerce, post-payment, and direct payments. Founded in 2005, it now serves much of the EU as well as the UK and US. With more than 3500 employees, the company is currently handling more than $35 billion in payments and sales. Earlier this year, the company reported they were worth over $31 billion. Their ethos is to provide payment solutions to eCommerce clients and to make payments easier and simpler for both merchants and customers.
Kraken
Capitalizing on interest in cryptocurrency, Kraken was launched in 2011. It provides trading and banking services in the form of cryptocurrency to fiat. As of this year, Kraken is available to people in 176 countries, including 42 US states. It started by just offering Bitcoin, but now lists some 72 different cryptocurrencies including ETHE, DOT, ADA, and DOGE. Now, the company is worth more than $4 billion following several rounds of funding.
Get Your Fintech Company Started Today!
Feeling inspired? Just think, in a few years, you could be featured on a list like this. If you have an idea and vision in the fintech sector, let Fast Offshore help you make it a reality. We have more than 23 years of experience in corporate services, with a focus on fintech, technology, and innovation. We can assist with all start-up services such as incorporation, structuring, tax, and compliance, as well as matters such as licensing. Contact us today to find out how!
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