The BFSI Movers and Shakers 2020 Report by Wizikey, a PR- SAAS start-up, highlighted the top 100 banks in India and emerging BFSI models such as Wallets and UPI, Neobanks, NBFCs, Small Finance Bank, Payments Banks, among others, that have found acceptance and their respective sectoral leaders this year.

Beyond the banking counterparts, one of the most muted sectors – insurance – also saw a massive shift in gears this year, considering their rise in popularity due to the after-effects of the pandemic, the report noted.

Top three banks

According to the report, HDFC, ICICI, and SBI were the top three banks of 2020 (mentioned according to rank). The three banks that transformed themselves almost overnight to serve the Indian consumers and have also trumped their newer counterparts including Axis and Kotak Mahindra in both quantity and quality of news are ICICI, HDFC, and SBI.

2020 also saw UPI and Wallets spring into high action as they found a new opportunity in making a dent with the customer. Google Pay has emerged as the number one mover and shaker, followed by Phone Pe. While WhatsApp buzzed with the launch of payments, it stayed behind all other players in the category.

Neo Banks was another category that witnessed a steady growth in the year riding the trend, owing to the growth in digitisation. YONO emerged as the number one followed by Niyo and Kotak 811 at ranks two and three, respectively, in the category.

NBFCs played a critical role this year, emerging as the primary source of capital for MSMEs. In a Covid-19 world, banks have been lending more to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), increasing their overall exposure to them.

Digital payments rise in Covid times, but then so does cash in circulation

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation at an overall rank of 15, topped the sectoral rank at number one.

Commenting on the same Anshul Sushil, CEO & Co-Founder, Wizikey, said in an official statement: “The BFSI segment of India, one of the cornerstones of our economy, saw a major upheaval in 2020. While the banking sector witnessed an immense crisis, it also paved the way for the emergence of new and disruptive models in the sector. Additionally, the slew of innovative services that the payment and lending solutions space saw has created new benchmarks for India on a global scale.”

Sharing his views on the importance of news analytics for brands, he said: “By leveraging Big Data Technologies such as Predictive Analytics and Machine Learning, at Wizikey, we analyse millions of news data points which help us create meaningful and important data points for various brands. By using this information, brands can create visibility which will help them eventually create trust within their consumer community.”

The crucial crutch of digital payments

The surprise entrant in the BFSI list is YES Bank. At an overall rank number four, it trumps in volume it trails in sentiment. The bank was in news for its poor performance, rejig of the management.

Report methodology

The Hottest Startups of 2020 Report has been created with Wizikey’s proprietary AI and ML technology, data mining and analysis within start-ups and unicorns in the ecosystem. A total of 5 million news articles have been used for analysis in this report. These articles are spread across over 500 distinct publications.

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