15 Fintech Companies to Watch in 2020: Part I

This is the first post in a two-part blog series titled 15 fintech companies to watch in 2020. 

Fintech, as many of you know, is short for financial technology. According to a Forbes post that we recently summarized called Fintech: The Fourth Platform, the term fintech has thus far meant taking a well-known financial product and making it more digitally accessible by building software around it. 

However, as Matthew Harris explained in his two-part articles, fintech is set to go far beyond just improving existing products and services in finance. He believes that fintech will join the likes of the internet, cloud, and mobile to innovate and found entirely new products and services. This will change everything from the way we bank to the ways in which we value and view money. This major shift to fintech as ‘the fourth platform’ in the tech stack could create $3.6 trillion of value. 

Here are the first seven of 15 fintech companies to watch out for in 2020—and the ones that we believe are paving the way for an entirely new financial industry in the future. 

15 fintech companies to watch in 2020 

1. Revolut 

London-based tech unicorn Revolut launched in July 2015 and is now one of the world’s fastest-growing bank account providers. Revolut is a digital banking alternative for instant payment notifications and fee-free international money transfers and spending. It has more than 8 million customers worldwide (albeit mostly in Europe) and has processed over 350 million international transactions totalling more than £40 billion. The financial app and debit card operator is a privately held company with over $331.63 million in funding. 

The end of 2019 saw the beginning of Revolut’s U.S. rollout with Mastercard as a partner. Revolut is also set to come to Canada in 2020 and continue providing international fee-free debit cards to European customers with Mastercard. 

2. Plaid

U.S.-based fintech company Plaid was founded in 2013 and recently valued at $2.65 billion. The company builds infrastructure to power a number of third-party applications (including VoPay) and allows users to interact with their bank accounts online. In other words, it is a simple way for consumers to connect their bank accounts to mobile apps. The fintech company has analyzed over 10 billion transactions to date. It has integrated with 15,000 banks in the U.S. and Canada and has begun its European roll-out. 

3. Mylo

This Montreal-based fintech company is one to watch in 2020. Mylo launched in July 2017 and has already been downloaded by over 500,000 Canadians and raised $14 million in funding. This app helps Canadians automate their savings and investments. For example, as a Globe & Mail article explained, Mylo rounds purchases up to the nearest dollar and invests the difference weekly in a conservative exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolio. In November 2019, the company raised $10 million from National Bank and Desjardins Capital.

4. PayBright

PayBright was named Canada’s fintech company of the year in 2019—and is slated as one to watch for 2020. This Toronto-based company provides a consumer payments platform focused on real-time point-of-sale (POS) installment plans. PayBright has partnered with over 5,000 merchants around the globe to allow shoppers to pay off purchases in four easy installments. The company has approved over $1.25 billion in purchasing power for consumers in Canada and beyond. 

5. Plooto

Plooto is a Toronto-based startup that is helping put the city among the fastest-growing tech markets in the world. It is a payment management platform that allows Canadian and U.S. businesses to send and collect payments and manage invoices internationally. The Digital Finance Institute named Plooto (as well as Mylo, PayBright, Flinks and Borrowell included in today’s post) as some of Canada’s top 50 fintech companies of 2019. 

6. Lexop

Lexop is a fast-growing Montreal-based fintech company that removes friction in collections. The company helps its B2B customers automate collections recovery efforts as well as retain customers and provide a convenient payment experience. Launched in 2016, Lexop has since participated in 500 Startups and FounderFuel, won many awards, was nominated as “most promising startup” by NACO (National Angel Capital Organization) and has announced several partnerships, including with Centris.

7. Chime

San Francisco-based fintech company, Chime, is now considered the leader in the U.S. challenger banking segment. It is part of a new kind of mobile and digital-only banks and is one of the fastest-growing bank accounts in the U.S. Chime members receive a Chime debit card, spending and savings accounts, and an app that keeps their financials in check. It was valued in December 2019 at $5.8 billion, after raising $500 million in funding, the largest investment in a digital bank since NuBank raised $400 million. 

Stay tuned until next week for Part II of 15 fintechs to watch in 2020.