{"id":5229,"date":"2020-12-04T10:51:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T05:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/?p=5229"},"modified":"2025-01-06T12:54:20","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T07:24:20","slug":"neobanks-future-of-banking-post-covid-19-international-day-of-banks-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/business-banking\/neobanks-future-of-banking-post-covid-19-international-day-of-banks-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"How Neobanks Aided Businesses Amidst COVID-19 &#8211; International Day of Banks 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What better day to appreciate the evolution &amp; future of banking other than today, the <strong>International Day of Banks<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Banking as we know it has come a long way. The existence of the earliest banking systems dates back to 8000 BC. Back then, banks only existed to provide loans to the public.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s banking services are based on the fundamentals of modern banks in the 17th &amp; 19th century protecting depositors&#8217; money. While this underlying principle remains the same, banks are no more just a safehouse for money. Banks are now the central point of every financial process, for an individual or a business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, we stand at the forefront of banking with technological advances that have led to the emergence of neobanking, Banking-as-a-Service, open banking, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Financial technology has revolutionised banking<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the last decade, the banking segment that has witnessed the most innovation is digital payments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In India, one of the most important breakthroughs in fintech innovation is Reserve Bank of India-regulated Unified Payments Interface (UPI). It enabled users to transfer money literally in just a click between two bank accounts with a mobile phone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s exciting to see that fintech not only disrupted the traditional payment infrastructure but the entire banking ecosystem. And the foundation of all the advancements in the banking sector are closely related to Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BaaS is a <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/learn\/what-is-a-business-model\/\">business model <\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that works on the principle of open banking. It exposes banking APIs and processes to third-party developers &amp; in turn, empowers them to build <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/x\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">innovative financial products<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>This state of the art technology is what gave birth to neobanks.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With neobanks becoming the trailblazers of the fintech industry, anyone who follows the financial ecosystem on close heels knows how they are simplifying both retail &amp; business banking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5230 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Neobanks_Future-of-BankingBlog.jpg\" alt=\"Future of Banking post covid-19\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Neobanks_Future-of-BankingBlog.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Neobanks_Future-of-BankingBlog-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Neobanks_Future-of-BankingBlog-768x384.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neobanks have digitised banking processes, end-to-end. There\u2019s no longer a need to stand in long queues for processing payments or withdrawing money. Businesses don\u2019t need to fill out never-ending paperwork or visit the physical branch to open a current account or to get their loan approved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>And what seemed to be far-fetched thought, neobanks are no more the new kid on the block. The global neobanking market is expected to have an annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 46.5% between 2019 and 2026, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwc.in\/consulting\/financial-services\/fintech\/fintech-insights\/neobanks-and-the-next-banking-revolution.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">generating around USD 394.6 billion by 2026.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has also caught up to the trend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>India has overtaken China with having the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.investindia.gov.in\/sector\/bfsi-fintech-financial-services#:~:text=India%20has%20the%20highest%20FinTech%20adoption%20rate%20globally,-India%20is%20amongst&amp;text=The%20overall%20transaction%20value%20in,to%20%24140%20bn%20in%202023.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">highest Fintech adoption rate globally<\/a> of 87%. The global average rate stands at 64%.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s amazing how financial institutions all across the globe had marked neobanks to be the future of banking, but Covid-19 made it a reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Impact of Covid-19 on banking\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has taken a toll on the global economy, but it catalysed the digital transformation of various industries. Neobanks are amongst the many business models that flourished during COVID-19.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pandemic drastically affected how businesses carry out their day-to-day financial processes. Traditionally, businesses were required to carry out tedious paperwork &amp; visit the physical bank branch for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">every <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">banking<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">process, right from a change in the payout approval process to opening a current account.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>The COVID-19 outbreak posed a health risk for both customers &amp; bank officials for all the financial operations that required them to visit a bank branch. Contamination of the currency posed another threat which affected timely payments.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The need to embrace neobanks became more urgent than ever as they successfully solved the practical problems of traditional banking in the wake of the virus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, the adoption rate of neobanks during the pandemic proves that customers did embrace them with an open heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"border-radius: 3px; background: #528FF0; padding: 15px; font-weight: 600; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; color: white;\" href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/x\/?r=blog_cta_business_banking_neobanks_in_covid19&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=cta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-schema-attribute=\"\">Xperience The Future Of Banking<\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Neobanks &#8211; Saviour for small businesses during COVID-19<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from the transactions, one of the financial operations that needed immediate action to keep business afloat during the pandemic was quick access to capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MSMEs relied heavily on traditional banks to fulfil their needs of working capital. While securing loans was never an easy task, the pandemic only made it worse for small businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Indian Government did release many <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/learn\/government-schemes-during-covid-19\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">relief measures to uplift businesses during COVID-19<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, such as the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sadly, it wasn\u2019t of much help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was reported that from the 4.5 million MSMEs eligible for the ECLGS scheme, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/small-biz\/sme-sector\/only-half-of-eligible-msmes-able-to-tap-the-emergency-credit-line\/articleshow\/78287193.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">only 2.4 million, or 53 percent, have secured loans<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such a low credit offtake in the MSME sector is linked to the requirement of a spotless financial history &amp; collaterals by banks to provide loans to businesses. While big enterprises could furnish this, small businesses were at a loss.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s where neobanks proved to be the messiah for small businesses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The alternative credit options provided by neobanks uniquely cater to the needs of SMEs &amp; MSMEs during COVID-19 &amp; beyond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While there are many businesses that thrived in COVID-19, one such story is of our very own customer at RazorpayX.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GroSuper, a Bangalore based startup <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/grosuper-working-capital-loans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">grew its business by 2X <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the last 6 months with the help of <a href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/capital\/\">Razorpay Capital<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5231\" src=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Quote_Future-of-BankingBlog.jpg\" alt=\"Future of Banking post COVID-19\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Quote_Future-of-BankingBlog.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Quote_Future-of-BankingBlog-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Quote_Future-of-BankingBlog-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.razorpay.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Quote_Future-of-BankingBlog-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Access to capital was only a small yet significant part of the bigger problem. Businesses needed a solution to carry out entire business banking from the safety of their home.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Future of banking post COVID-19<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pandemic triggered a visible shift in the banking behaviour of businesses of every size. And neobanks proved to be the perfect solution to accommodate such a transition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>The long-term behavioural changes brought about by COVID-19 may mark an end to the era of physical banking.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Business that choose RazorpayX save 10X time by carrying out all financial processes, right from managing invoices, taxes, and capital to analysing their financial health, all on a single dashboard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><a style=\"border-radius: 3px; background: #528FF0; padding: 15px; font-weight: 600; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; color: white;\" href=\"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/x\/?r=blog_cta_business_banking_neobanks_in_covid19&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=cta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-schema-attribute=\"\">Xperience The Future Of Banking<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Banking as we know it has come a long way. On International Day of Banks 2020, we explore why neobanks will be the future of banking post COVID-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":5234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business-banking"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19965,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5229\/revisions\/19965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/razorpay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}