The global fintech industry is entering a more sustainable growth phase, with customer acquisition slowing but revenue and profit growth remaining strong, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.

The second edition of the Future of Global Fintech report, released in June 2025, provides an updated view of the industry through new data on areas including market performance, regulatory perception, and technological innovation. The findings are based on a global survey of 240 selected fintech companies across six retail-facing industry verticals and six regions conducted in Q4 2024.

The report shows that customer growth slowed to an average of 37% from 2022–2023, compared to 52% in 2021-2022 and 55% in 2020-2021. This deceleration, consistent across verticals and regions, highlights a post-COVID-19 pandemic normalization following a period of rapid adoption of digital financial products. It also reflects an increased focus on deepening value propositions and strengthening customer relationships rather than relying solely on user acquisition.

Encouragingly, the study found that revenue growth remains robust. In 2023, the average revenue growth rate stood at 40%, demonstrating strong demand for digital financial services.

In particular, fintech companies in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) outperformed those in advanced economies (AEs), with average revenue growth rates of 42% and 39%, respectively. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) led the world with an average revenue growth rate of 46%, followed by Asia-Pacific (APAC) (44%), and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (43%).

Across verticals, revenue growth exceeded the industry average in all except digital capital raising and insurtech firms. Digital banking and savings led the pack with a 67% increase, while insurtech and digital capital raising firms experienced the slowest growth at 31% and 18%, respectively.

The global fintech industry also demonstrated strong profit growth in 2023, with an average profit increase of 39%, highlighting efficient operations and adaptability.

Like for revenue growth, all fintech verticals except for digital capital raising fintech companies reported above-average profit growth. Digital banking and savings also led profit growth at 59%, driven by strong customer adoption caused by increasing demand for digital financial services. Insurtech followed with a profit growth rate of 42%, reflecting the growing interest in innovative insurance solutions.

Financial inclusion and partnerships remain critical

In 2023, financial inclusion remained central to the fintech value proposition, with underserved segments continuing to make up large portions of customer base. MSMEs accounted for 57% of fintech customers, up 8 points year-over-year (YoY); low-income populations 47%, up 7 points; and women 41%, up 2 points.

These segments also contributed a larger share of fintech companies’ revenues. Revenue from low-income customers rose 17 percentage points YoY to 43% in 2023, while seniors’ contribution increased by eight points to 28%.

Partnerships also remained key to fintech growth, with a striking 84% of the fintech companies polled reporting partnering with incumbent financial institutions.

Application programming interface (API) integrations were the most common partnership scheme at 52%, primarily supporting payment processing, purchase transactions and cross-border remittances. Technology providers followed at 41%, underscoring the role of third-party technology solutions in driving fintech operations. Funding agreements ranked third at 36%, signifying the importance of financial collaborations in sustaining growth and innovation.

Technology adoption accelerates

In 2024, technology remained a core driver of fintech performance. In total, 80% of surveyed fintech companies were implementing artificial intelligence (AI) across multiple business domains. Customer service and process automation led AI applications, with 91% of companies either implementing AI or planning to implement it in these areas in the near future.

Risk management followed at 88%. New revenue stream through products and processes, and customer acquisition came next both at 83%.

Looking ahead, fintech leaders identified AI as the most critical area for the next five years, with 74% of respondents ranking AI “most relevant”. Regional interoperability followed at 53%, embedded finance at 52%, and open banking/open banking at 49%.

Combined with broader findings, these trends further point to a shift from pure disruption towards collaborative transformation of digital financial services, and deeper integration with traditional financial infrastructure.

In 2021, embedded finance reached US$20 billion in revenues in the US, according to McKinsey estimates. The market is expected to double in size within the next three to five years. In the European Economic Area and the UK, revenue of embedded finance is set to rise to EUR 100 billion by 2030.

McKinsey expects generative AI to lift productivity by 3% to 5% across the banking sector, delivering value equal to an additional US$200 billion to US$340 billion in annual revenues.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by farknot via Freepik