FinTech adoption rates rose to an average 64 per cent this year, with India and China leading emerging markets with 87 per cent adoption. There has been exponential rise in India due to government’s digital push including initiatives such as demonetisation, Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Unified Payment Interface (UPI), according to an EY study.

FinTech adoption in India is driven by greater use of money transfer and payments (94 per cent). Within money transfer, adoption is led by peer-to-peer and nonbank money transfers (85 per cent), and in-store mobile phone payments (88 per cent), the study – EY Global FinTech Adoption Index 2019 - said.

Access to “innovative” products and ease of account opening are key factors driving consumers to FinTech adoption.

“The FinTech industry in India is rapidly expanding, and the adoption rate is growing faster than anticipated. One of the reasons for strong growth is that traditional financial services companies have entered the fray in a big way,” Mahesh Makhija, Partner and Leader, Digital and Emerging Tech at EY said.

Money transfers, payment services drive awareness

Globally, nearly 89 per cent of consumers are aware of the existence of in-store mobile phone payment platforms and 82 per cent are aware of peer-to-peer payment systems and non-bank money transfers.

Availability of FinTech services is even more accentuated in both India and China with 99.5 per cent of consumers aware of money transfer and mobile payment services. The elevated awareness in India stems in part from the government’s plan announced in 2017, to decrease the amount of paper currency in circulation.

Close behind are Russia and South Africa, both with 82 per cent adoption. Among the developed markets, the Netherlands (73 per cent), the UK (71 per cent) and Ireland (71 per cent) lead in adoption, reflecting in part the development of open banking in Europe, according to EY Global FinTech Adoption Index 2019.

The index is based on an online survey of more than 27,000 digitally active consumers across 27 markets, including India. This year it also includes a survey of 1,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) using FinTech services in China, the US, the UK, South Africa and Mexico.

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