Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the banking sector to understand the needs of emerging sectors like fintech and support them. She also underlined the fintech sector’s potential to provide technological support to banks and said they can also benefit with the help of the banking sector.
“From inputs given by officers from Tax administration, it emerged that Banks need to understand the special requirements of Sunrise sector. Example fintech, one such sector can provide technological help to banks as well as can benefit from banking sector,” Sitharaman said in a media interaction after her two-day Mumbai visit came to an end.
The fintech sector, also referred to as ‘sunrise sector’ by the Finance Minister, could also be targeted by banks, larger fintechs or even a fintech services conglomerate on the M&A front, as per a KPMG report.
The report highlights banks are keen to join hands with fintechs, particularly neo-banks and wealth tech platforms.
The sector has raked in total investments worth around $2 billion during first half of 2021, the report mentioned.
Firms that received record investments include Pinelabs ($285 million), Cred ($215 million), Razorpay ($160 million), Kreditbee ($153 million), Oftbusiness ($110 million) and Bharatpe ($108 million).
According to this report, four of the top 10 deals in Asia were into domestic companies during first half of this year. While Pinelabs’ $285 million funding was the third largest across Asia, Cred’s $215 million funding in a series D round was the fourth largest across the continent.
Edited by Mehak Agarwal; with PTI inputs
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