In the previous chapter, we took a look at the top fintech companies in India. However, the global fintech industry’s growth started many years before India’s. And so, it is quite natural for the world to have plenty of big fintech players. And so, in this chapter, we’re going to take a look at a few of the biggest companies operating in the fintech space on a global scale. Let’s begin. 

Stripe

Stripe is one of the most well-known payment processing platforms in the entire world. With dual headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and San Francisco, California, the fintech major offers payment processing solutions and allows e-commerce websites and mobile applications to make use of their payment infrastructure through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). 

Founded in: Stripe was founded in the year 2009 by two brothers - Patrick Collison and John Collison.

Services offered: Stripe offers end-to-end payment processing services using their infrastructure and fully integrated suite of products. It also offers APIs that websites and mobile applications can be used to gain access to the Stripe payment network. And finally, the fintech company is also involved in helping startups register themselves as U.S. Corporations through its Atlas platform. 

Coinbase

One of the biggest fintech companies in the world, Coinbase is essentially a cryptocurrency exchange platform that lets customers invest and trade in various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and AMP, among others. The fintech major is one of the few companies with no physical headquarters. Coinbase operates on a remote-first basis with all of its employees working from home. 

Founded in: Coinbase was founded in the year 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. 

Services offered: Coinbase allows individuals to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through its cryptocurrency exchange platform. The platform is accessible from both a web browser and through their own dedicated mobile application. 

Robinhood

Robinhood is a well-known financial services company that’s involved in providing its customers with a stock trading platform through which individuals can buy and sell in stocks, exchange-traded funds, and even cryptocurrencies. One of the major fintech players in the stock broking segment, Robinhood is known for offering commission-free trades on stocks and exchange-traded funds.  

Founded in: Robinhood was founded by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt in the year 2015 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. 

Services offered: Robinhood offers several services such as a stock trading platform through its Robinhood mobile application, margin lending services, and instant deposits, among others. 

Wise

Known earlier as TransferWise, Wise is one of the biggest fintech companies in the world that offers a peer-to-peer money transfer system. Using Wise’s system, individuals wishing to transfer funds from one end of the world to the other could do so without having to go through multiple banks. Thanks to the peer-to-peer nature of money transfers, individuals can save a lot of fees, which they would have otherwise had to pay to banks for using their transfer system. 

Founded in: Wise was founded in the year 2011 by two individuals - Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann and is headquartered in Shoreditch, England. 

Services offered: Unlike other fintech majors, Wise offers only one service - money transfers from anywhere in the world through a peer-to-peer system. 

SoFi

SoFi is an American fintech major that provides a slew of personal finance products through its mobile and desktop platforms. Based out of San Francisco, California, SoFi is into lending, investments, wealth management, and refinancing. The company’s major motive has been to become a one-stop shop for all the financial needs of an individual. More recently, SoFi has also gotten involved in the banking business as well and has started to offer savings and checking accounts. 

Founded in: SoFi was founded by four individuals - James Finnigan, Mike Cagney, Ian Brady, and Dan Macklin in the year 2011. 

Services offered: Some of the different kinds of services offered by SoFi involves student loans, student loan refinancing, personal loans, home loans, auto loans refinancing, stock market and cryptocurrency trading, credit cards, savings and checking accounts, wide variety of insurance products, estate planning, and credit score monitoring. 

Root

Root is a unique insurance service provider and is quickly becoming one of the top fintech companies in the entire world. One of the differentiating factors of Root is that it offers car insurance to individuals without the need to produce a credit score. It also requires the individual to download a mobile application and perform a driving test for around a few weeks. And based on the score arrived at by the individual after the successful completion of the driving test, Root would offer insurance premiums.  

Founded in: Root was founded in the year 2015 by two individuals - Dan Manges and Alex Timm. 

Services offered: Root offers car insurance plans in as many as 32 U.S. states, renters insurance plans in 7 U.S. states, and homeowners’ insurance plans in 19 U.S. states. 

Digit

Digit is a fintech company based in San Francisco, that aims to make financial health easier and more accessible for everyone. The company automates the day-to-day work of managing your personal finances, so you get the power of a smart financial assistant on their app itself. There are different areas of services such as spending, budgeting, saving and investing that Digit takes care of.

Founded in: Digit was founded in 2013 and has its headquarters in San Francisco, CA.

Services offered: The company offers services such as financial planning, financial management, goal-based budgeting, bill payments and more.

MANTL

MANTL is another fintech company that focuses on expanding access to financial services. This SaaS company helps financial institutions personalise user experiences and improve branding, to increase conversions. It helps banks and credit unions attend to their customers’ needs by making it possible for them to open an account online or in person nearly instantly. 

Founded in: MANTL was founded in 2016 and has its headquarters in New York, NY.

Services offered: The company offers services such as customer account opening and business account opening.

Chime

Chime is a new-age fintech company that aims to make banking more cost-effective and accessible for customers. The fintech services provider has over 1 million accounts opened, and it is only going further ahead on its mission to make banking more valuable for everybody. Chime prides itself on its unconventional approach, which does not include overdraft fees, monthly service, minimum balance, or other member fees. 

Founded in: Chime was founded in 2013 and has its headquarters in San Francisco, CA.

Services offered: The company offers different types of easy banking accounts like checking account, credit builder and savings account. 

Morningstar

Morningstar focuses on financial research and making information accessible to investors, so they can make informed investment decisions. Despite its humble beginnings, the company now has over 8,000 employees, an established presence in 20 countries and data covering over 6.2 lakh investments. 

Founded in: Morningstar was founded in 1984, but it has adapted to the requirements of the fintech space and continues to be a trusted brand in the investment and research sector. 

Services offered: The company offers different types of easy banking accounts like checking account, credit builder and savings account. 

Wrapping up

The above-mentioned six fintech players are just the cream of the crop. When it comes to the biggest fintech companies in the world, there are many more. And with each passing year, the number is only set to increase further. Now that you’ve gotten a good idea of the top fintech companies globally, in the next chapter, we’ll take a look at how fintech has managed to penetrate and change the banking sector. 

A quick recap

• Stripe, founded in the year 2009, is one of the most well-known payment processing platforms in the entire world. 
• One of the biggest fintech companies in the world, Coinbase is essentially a cryptocurrency exchange platform that lets customers invest and trade in various cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and AMP, among others. 
• Robinhood is a well-known financial services company that’s involved in providing its customers with a stock trading platform through which individuals can buy and sell in stocks, exchange-traded funds, and even cryptocurrencies.
• Known earlier as TransferWise, Wise is one of the biggest fintech companies in the world that offers a peer-to-peer money transfer system.
• SoFi is an American fintech major that provides a slew of personal finance products through its mobile and desktop platforms.
• Root offers car insurance plans in as many as 32 U.S. states, renters insurance plans in 7 U.S. states, and homeowners’ insurance plans in 19 U.S. states.