Neobank App Downloads Surpass Traditional Banks and More Fintech News

Neo Banks Outperform Legacy Banks in App Download Numbers

The traditional banking systems worldwide, with the advancements in technologies, are seeing newer trends picking pace on a daily basis. In a fresh development, neo banks have outperformed traditional banks in the number of app downloads. As per an analysis published by App Radar, neobank apps saw 18 million more downloads than traditional banking apps in 2023.  

Neobanks, or fintech banks, are digital-only banking platforms that don't have physical locations. Apps of fintech firms like Tandem Bank, Revolut and Monzo respectively clocked 110 percent, 46 percent, and 20 percent growth in download numbers.  

The report further highlighted that in the coming days, newbanks and fintech platforms are poised to give a tough competition to traditional banking systems.  

Paytm's UPI Transactions Decline, Google Pay and PhonePe See Spike

In the aftermath of RBI's clampdown on Paytm, the online payments platform has recorded a dip in its UPI transaction numbers. As per reports, there has been a drop of 7.6 percent in Paytm-based transactions since January this year. Paytm managed to facilitate around 1.2 billion UPI transactions in the month of March. This number is down from the 1.3 billion transactions in February and 1.4 billion in January.

Paytm's struggles have spelled growth in transaction volumes for its rival players in the online payments sector like Google Pay and PhonePe. Data reportedly indicates that transaction volume on Google Pay, in March, rose to five billion in numbers – clocking a growth of six percent.  

PhonePe, on the other hand, processed 6.5 billion transactions in March, registering a growth of 5.2 percent.  

While Paytm is working on bringing its business and operations to completely comply with India's rules and regulations, it has managed to keep its userbase intact.  

Global Fintech Funding Falls to Lowest Level in Seven Years

Between December 2023 and March 2024, the funding for fintech ventures on an international level, dropped by 16 percent. The number was claimed by Analytics firm CB Insights earlier this week. This decline has been reported despite venture funding across sectors managed to climb up by 11 percent globally.  

Given the drop in fundings, the emergence of newer unicorns has also been observed in the fintech arena. In the first quarter of 2024 i.e between January and March, only 19 new companies exceeded $1 billion in valuation marking a 17 percent drop quarter-over-quarter to start 2024.

Market analysts expect to see a surge in funding for fintech in the coming months.  

Flipkart Co-Founder Sachin Bansal Seeks Funding for Fintech Startup

India has, in recent times, been called a hotspot for fintech and startup activities – with newer companies entering these arenas on a daily basis. Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal is one of many already established entrepreneurs who has planned to offer fintech services in India through his app called Navi.  

Bansal is reportedly looking to raise between $200 million and $400 million for Navi. He is already in talks with investors to raise enough funding to take the valuation of his fintech firm to $2 billion.  

The company was founded in the year of 2018 and is headquartered in India's own Silicon Valley, Bengaluru. Up until now, Navi has been majorly self-funded. The platform offers personal loans, home loans as well as health insurance to customers.

In 2022, Bansal wished to raise $440 billion, as per the paperwork Navi filed for a public listing. Because of the recession-like circumstance that shadowed the markets last year, Navi had let go of its plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the year of 2023.