New Delhi: Chinese smartphone<\/a> companies trying to carve a niche in the fintech<\/a> space have had a tough time, possibly on account of poor consumer sentiment following Sino-Indian border tension.
Xiaomi<\/a>, Oppo<\/a> and Realme<\/a>, which launched their fintech apps Mi<\/a> Pay and Mi Credit, Oppo Kash and Realme PaySa, respectively, at the start of 2020 have so far seen fewer than 1 million downloads each on Google<\/a> Play Store against their user base of 20-100 million.
Even in terms of transactions, they have barely made a dent. Mi Pay and Realme PaySa recorded 480,000 and 10,000 monthly transactions, respectively, throughout 2020, with minimal month-on-month growth, according to data on the National Payments Corporation of India portal. Comparatively, market leaders PhonePe recorded 902.3 million and Google Pay 854.49 million monthly transactions.
Even after digital adoption accelerated during the pandemic, other offerings from these Chinese companies such as quick loans, insurance and mutual fund investments failed to gather steam, fintech analysts said.
They said the reason is mainly because of the backlash against Chinese companies due to Sino-Indian border tensions for several months.
“Brands tried to diversify in the financial services segment to monetise their existing user base via these services and potential ad revenues,” said Navkender Singh, research director at IDC India. “But we didn’t see any marketing from them after the launch, probably because they kept a low profile on account of public sentiments against Chinese companies.”
Additionally, he said, brand loyalty among Chinese smartphone<\/a> users is rare so a person who switches between brands in a year or two would rather have a Paytm or Google Pay account.
<\/p>Read also<\/h4>