India has the highest fintech adoption rate globally. Besides being home to the world’s 3rd largest fintech ecosystem, our fintech market (currently valued at $31 billion) is expected to grow to a whopping $84 billion by 2025. What’s interesting is that nearly 70% of the current 2100+ fintech brands in India were set up in the last 5 years, pointing at the breakneck speed at which this sector has grown recently.
To the uninitiated, fintech is short for financial technologies. It is a broad term covering innovative digital payments, credit, financial services & banking services that are useful to customers, SMEs & enterprises. Over the past couple of years, India has seen the rise of multiple leading fintech brands such as PayU, Zerodha, Pine Labs, Paytm, Razorpay, Policy Bazaar, Instamojo & Moneytap among others that integrate ‘fin’ (finance) with ‘tech’ (technology) in new & more innovative ways, emerging as a catalyst for the economy’s growth.
If you are out of college and looking for an exciting new career opportunity, or a seasoned professional intrigued by this booming sector, here are my top 5 reasons to work for a fintech company in India:
- Be A Part Of The Force Reshaping Banking & Finance Forever
India’s fintech ecosystem is young, very young. The initial startups in this sector were created less than a decade ago, which means young professionals in this sector have the opportunity to grow in their respective fields, while being part of something that is reshaping how financial institutions work from their core.
2. An Innovation & Entrepreneurial Powerhouse
Today, payments that were done by hand are digitised, insurance, investments & all other financial products that would need stacks of paperwork, and would gobble up an entire working day takes seconds. Working with brands that are making this magic happen also means a strong emphasis on creativity, innovation, collaboration & entrepreneurship in its truest sense.
Personally, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some truly inspiring visionaries who are trying to shake up this typically traditional sector by thinking outside of the box. Many of my colleagues from the sector currently run their own successful startups. This doesn’t happen so often in other industries - so much so that it makes me believe that working with a fintech brand gives you the entrepreneurial bug.
3. A Sector With Incredible Promise & Potential
The fintech landscape in India is still in its early days; and is set to grow multi-fold in the coming years, with enough room for newer business. According to government statistics, the fintech transaction value size is set to grow from $66 billion in 2019 to $138 billion in 2023, a CAGR of 20 per cent. Segments such as neo-banking, digital lending, wealth tech, personal finance management & insurance tech are still at the nascent stage.
Fintech is also one of the rare industries that thrived amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as every business wants to go online. With so much change around you, one can rest assured that your work would never feel monotonous. The sheer exposure, learning and growth that this industry can offer to a youngster is unparalleled.
4. Break Down Age-Old Barriers
The Fintech world is shrinking international boundaries. It’s a sector without borders in a true sense. Multiple Indian fintech brands facilitate global financial services using cutting-edge technologies. Imagine making cross-border payments from APAC to Europe in minutes with a smartphone on your morning commute.
I work with clients from all over the world and it is something I truly enjoy. Working in a multilingual environment hones your linguistic skills and your understanding of the world in general. Working with clients in different time zones can be challenging but is equally rewarding.
Besides creating a seamless experience for international transactions, Indian fintech brands have brought banking services to areas of the world that are not served by the traditional banking ecosystem. Emerging markets like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc have been previously unable to participate in the global economy are now getting access to bank accounts and financial services that have the potential to completely change their way of life. By serving the under-served, fintech brands are creating new possibilities and boosting the global economy for the better.
5. Prepares You For A Tough Challenge
Working in fintech makes you appreciate the hustle that goes into making a single rupee exchange hands, or quite simply making this work.
For instance, with the recent RBI guidelines on recurring payments & card tokenization, it was a hell of a ride for fintech brands to make their solutions viable, while working with multiple stakeholders in the industry. Solving for these problems and working with a team of motivated young minds helps prepare you for challenging environments at work, and in life.
