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Over the past year, we've seen plenty of major fintech developments shaping the industry as a whole. And as we near the end of 2019, Business Insider Intelligence has selected the most notable fintechs that made a meaningful impact on the global ecosystem, based on key metrics including funding figures, customer numbers, and product suites.
- Chime was the most dominant player in the increasingly crowded US neobank space. The US-based neobank started the year off with a $200 million Series D funding round led by DST Global in March — making it the country's first neobank unicorn — which was followed by a $500 million Series E round in December. Additionally, Chime surpassed 5 million accounts in September, making it the neobank with the most users in the US. Chime is also on track to quadruple its revenue this year to reach nearly $200 million. That said, the neobank also suffered a major outage earlier this year caused by an issue with its payment processor, Galileo, which left customers unable to make withdrawals or deposits — but the two parties have been working together to make system changes and prevent such outages in the future. We think the positives far outweigh this hiccup, placing Chime among the biggest fintech winners of 2019. To maintain its dominance in the country, Chime should look into boosting its product suite by offering services such as insurance options and joint accounts — a trend we've already seen in Europe, where the neobank ecosystem remains ahead of the US'.
- US-based full-stack insurtechs Lemonade, Next Insurance, and Root were key winners in 2019, attracting a wealth of funding due to their business models. These players have their own insurance licenses and own the whole insurance value chain, including claims management and underwriting. Likely because of their unique business models, they each raised mega rounds this year: Home insurtech Lemonade raised $300 million in April this year, small business insurtech Next Insurance secured a $250 million Series C round from a single investor in October, and car insurtech Root nabbed $350 million and quadrupled its valuation to $3.7 billion in August. We also saw more insurtechs moving toward a full-stack model, with US-based Kin Insurance and UK-based Zego securing the licenses they need to operate as carriers. So, as more players begin moving toward a full-stack business model, we'll see more activity in this insurtech segment.
- Nubank and Creditas were the stars of Brazil's booming fintech ecosystem. Neobank Nubank grew its user base to 15 million customers and secured a $10 billion valuation after raising $400 million. Meanwhile, alt lender Creditas raised $231 million in July. Brazil grew its fintech adoption among digitally active adults from just 40% in 2017 to 64% this year, per EY, and it'll likely increase further as players like Nubank and Creditas continue to establish themselves. And while Brazil is still leading the fintech revolution in Latin America (LATAM), other countries in the region are following suit, which will accelerate fintech developments throughout LATAM.
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