Overview

The global fintech industry is entering a new phase—one defined by operational maturity, sustainable growth, and the strategic application of next-generation technologies. The Global Fintech Report 2025 by BCG and QED Investors provides in-depth analysis of key drivers shaping this evolution. This article unpacks the report’s most pertinent insights for fintech builders and partners operating in underpenetrated markets such as South Africa and the broader African continent.

Global Momentum, Local Opportunity

In 2024, global fintech revenues grew by 21%—significantly outpacing the 6% growth seen in traditional financial services. However, fintechs still represent only 3% of the $13 trillion global banking and insurance revenue pool. This signals considerable untapped opportunity, particularly in markets underserved by incumbents.

Current fintech revenue is concentrated in five primary verticals:

• Digital wallets

• Acquiring and vertical SaaS

• Challenger banking

• Crypto trading

• BNPL/POS lending

While these areas continue to scale, meaningful white space remains across B2B financial workflows, credit access, and embedded infrastructure.

Five Trends Reshaping the Fintech Landscape

1. Agentic AI: Moving from Automation to Autonomy

Fintechs are beginning to integrate agentic AI—autonomous systems capable of making and executing decisions on behalf of users. These agents can rebalance portfolios, initiate payments, optimize cash flow, and manage financial goals in real time.

AI-native startups are moving faster than scaled incumbents, with key use cases emerging in onboarding, fraud detection, and vertical SaaS automation. For infrastructure providers like Tenderize, agentic AI represents a new frontier for operational and customer enablement across wallet ecosystems.

2. Onchain Finance and Tokenized Infrastructure

Blockchain-based finance is advancing, with stablecoins increasingly used for cross-border payments and asset tokenization offering the next major shift in capital markets. The tokenization of bonds, private credit, and real estate assets can lower costs, reduce friction, and increase access—particularly in markets with limited liquidity or complex infrastructure.

These developments are particularly relevant to African fintechs where local capital markets remain fragmented and expensive to navigate.

3. Challenger Banks: Scaling Through Product Depth

Leading challenger banks are evolving their strategies. Rather than global expansion, the focus has shifted to:

• Increasing average deposit balances

• Expanding credit and savings products

• Targeting higher-margin customer segments

The goal is to transition from being secondary accounts to becoming customers’ primary financial platform—a path highly aligned with Tenderize’s work in wallet-enabled banking and merchant services.

4. Fintech Lending: Strengthening Through Private Credit

Only 3% of lending revenue today flows through fintechs. However, with private credit funds managing $1.7 trillion globally, new capital partnerships are emerging. These partnerships offer fintechs stable, longer-term funding models to support alternative credit models—especially in underserved markets.

Tenderize’s wallet-linked credit pathways, supported by data-driven risk scoring and agent distribution models, are well positioned to align with this funding trend.

5. The B2B Fintech Opportunity

Most enterprise financial processes—including reconciliation, procurement, and working capital—remain under-digitized. B2B fintech infrastructure is poised for growth, especially in markets with informal economies and limited ERP penetration.

The Tenderize Business Enablement Platform addresses this gap through modular tools built on Salesforce, enabling wallet operators, service providers, and merchants to digitize their back-office and customer-facing operations at scale.

What This Means for South Africa and Emerging Markets

While Africa accounts for less than 1% of global fintech revenues, structural drivers—youth demographics, high mobile penetration, and cash dependence—signal strong future demand.

Key imperatives for fintech builders and stakeholders include:

• Addressing pain points where traditional banks are absent or ineffective

• Emphasizing unit economics and operational discipline

• Embedding AI and blockchain only where value can be clearly delivered

• Building scalable, compliant platforms that foster ecosystem-level enablement

Final Thought

As investor sentiment shifts toward sustainability and regulators demand maturity, the fintech landscape is entering a more disciplined era. However, the core opportunity—bridging gaps in financial inclusion, operational efficiency, and economic participation—remains larger than ever.

At Tenderize AI, we are focused on building and enabling the next generation of wallet infrastructure, B2B fintech tools, and inclusive financial systems. The next chapter in fintech is not just about growth—it’s about building the right way.