Financial technology startups are taking over, and people are starting to notice.
Fully 12 startups — or 25% — of CNBC’s newly released Disruptor 50 are focused on fintech. Here are the fintech companies that made the list, along with their rank on the Top 50 list, the second year that CNBC singled out companies upending traditional industries:
10) Uber – A taxi service that’s valued at $18.2 billion, Uber has revolutionized the way we define “frictionless payments.”
15) Stripe – A payments service that’s based on “code and design,” Stripe hopes to change the way retailers and small business process online payments.
16) TransferWise – A peer-to-peer company that’s caught the eye of everyone from Facebook to Richard Branson, Transferwise helps facilitate international payments by acting as an intermediary between parties to lower transaction fees.
17) Personal Capital – Geared towards high wealth clients (you need $100,000 to open an account), Personal Capital syncs up your all of your personal financial accounts to give a “360-degree view of your financial life” and offers investment tips as well.
18) Quirky – Quirky hopes to spur innovation by having “inventors” submit design proposals for things like power strips, have them manufactured, and then sells them to retailers like Target and Best Buy. Inventors receive a 4% royalty fee for their designs. Quirky is yet another venture disrupting commercial finance.
20) Wealthfront – Wealthfront is the premier financial consulting agency for young tech millionaires, providing exchange-traded funds at very low costs.
26) AngelList – AngelList tries to help startups acquire angel funding by putting financiers in touch with companies. The company makes money when startups get acquired or go public. Bank small business lenders take notice.
33) Lending Club – A peer-to-peer credit marketplace, Lending Club is geared towards customers looking to bring down their debt, with investors picking loans and asking for a monthly fee. The company also now offers deals for private education and elective medical surgery, like braces, making important yet costly goods and services more accessible. This is a lending universe in complete parallel to traditional banking.
35) Coinbase – Coinbase lets bitcoin users store their BTC in digital wallets and allows them to use bitcoins in everyday transactions, pushing the virtual currency into the mainstream.
37) Bill.com – “An online business-payments network designed for small- to medium-sized companies,” Bill.com tries to make the tedious task of keeping track of a businesses’ expenses. This is a service banks should be offering — but don’t.
45) Betterment – Betterment uses technology instead of humans to advise customers in their investing decisions. Compared to traditional advisors, who can be expensive, the company charges a nominal flat fee depending on how much you invest.
49) Kickstarter – A crowdfunding service that’s funded movies, albums, and other creative projects. Project creators can only access the funds if the goal is reached by the due date. The disrupted: traditional VCs and SMB lenders.