Worlds Top 10 Fintech Apps: Hope for Nigerian Startups

Since the early 2000s and the rise in the demand for digital banking, the Fintech industries have taken the finance sector by storm.

Fintech (financial technology) companies are those that use technology to provide financial services such as payments, loans, investments, and insurance.

 Fintech companies have been around for several decades, but the industry really took off in the 2000s with the rise of digital banking and online payment platforms.

let us dive into the Top 10 fintech companies in the world, based on revenue, customer base, and features.

Ant Group - Founded in 2004 by Jack Ma the co-founder of the Alibaba group. Ant Group is a Chinese financial technology company that provides a range of services, including payment processing, wealth management, and consumer lending. As of 2023, Ant Group had over 1.4 billion users and was valued at $160 billion.

Stripe - Founded in 2010 by Patrick and John Collison, Stripe is a US-based payment processing company that focuses on enabling businesses to accept and process online payments. 

As of 2023, Stripe had over 150,000 business customers and was valued at $100 billion.

Square - Founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, Square is a US-based financial technology company that provides payment processing, business loans, and other services to small businesses. 

As of 2023, Square had over 35 million users and was valued at $110 billion.

PayPal - Founded in 1998 by Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, and Elon Musk, PayPal one of the oldest fintech in the world is a US-based payment processing company that enables individuals and businesses to make and receive online payments. 

As of 2023, PayPal had over 305 million users and was valued at $310 billion.

Coinbase - Founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to buy, sell, and store digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

As of 2023, Coinbase had over 50 million users and was valued at $70 billion.

Robinhood - Founded in 2013 by Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood is a US-based investment platform that allows users to buy and sell stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies. 

As of 2023, Robinhood had over 13 million users and was valued at $11.7 billion.

It currently has more than 15 million customers, and in 2023, it was worth $33 billion.

Klarna - Founded in 2005 by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson, Klarna is a Swedish financial technology company that provides payment processing and other services to online retailers and consumers. 

Over 90 million customers and a $33 billion valuation were the stats for Klarna as of 2023.

Adyen is a Dutch payment processing corporation that serves companies of various kinds. Pieter van der Does and Arnout Schuijff founded Adyen in 2006. Adyen has over 4,000 clients and a $70 billion market cap as of 2023.

David Velez founded the Brazilian digital bank Nubank in 2013, and it offers customers credit cards, personal loans, and other financial services. Nubank has approximately 40 million customers and a $30 billion market value as of 2023.

Hope For Nigeria

Nigeria is the largest growing fintech base in Africa with companies like Flutterwave already valued at $3 billion, with over 4 million customers, and currently operating in 34 countries.

Fintech in Nigeria started less than 10 years ago and already the market is growing with over 200 registered fintech companies and transactions going over $200 million per year.

Today Nigerian fintech may not be listed as part of the top ten in the world but they are coming up, and with the evidence of how fintech companies are breaking limits worldwide, the sky is the beginning for Nigerian Fintech Industry.