Fintech, or financial technology, is a term used to describe companies that use the latest technology in order to provide banking services to their customers through more efficient, safe means. The following are 6 of the top fintech companies to watch in the upcoming year.

1.Mojo Mortgages: Mojo Mortgages uses technology to simplify and streamline the somewhat difficult mortgage practice in the UK. They offer a free online service that allows customers to see what they need to do to get a loan. They use their specialized algorithms combined with real mortgage brokers in order for customers to check mortgage availability online and then compare mortgage rates between 90 different mortgage lenders. As a final step, they connect customers to a financial advisor so that they can sign on the dotted line for their loan.

2.Hastee: Hastee is a fintech company that allows its customers access to up to 50% of their upcoming paycheck ahead of time. This is not a loan as customers pay the company back out of their next paychecks and the employer never sees an impact. Because this is not a loan, customers can access their money without fear of repercussions on their credit score. Hastee also offers financial advice to their customers.

3.Tumelo: Tumelo was designed to help investors invest their funds in a portfolio that is based around positive social impact. This would have allowed investors to put their funds in areas that interest them such as environmental issues and diversity. They switched up the idea slightly so that they used their technology to inform other investment companies as to the inner workings of the companies investors are interested in. This way if a customer wishes to invest in a certain fund they can see a transparent overview of which companies are involved and what these companies stand for and represent.

4.Credit Kudos: Credit Kudos offers a new take on credit scores. They realized that all of the information current credit bureaus look at is what a person has done in the past and they wanted to take the customer’s present financial situation into account when creating a credit score. They designed algorithms that look at a customer’s current banking habits so they can determine, even for a customer with no current credit history, how much they could afford to borrow based on the funds they have in their accounts and how they spend those funds. This is particularly helpful in getting loans for young people who haven’t built up any credit yet as this can be difficult for customers to do under the current credit bureau ratings.

5.Jaja: This credit card fintech company focuses on simplifying credit for their customers through the use of digital technology. They offer a digital credit card that can be used through their app. They also have used their innovative technology to apply this same simplicity to other credit card providers which makes the simple process available to even more customers. Although they do offer a physical card, as soon as you’ve been approved you can start using your new credit card through their digital app thereby eliminating the wait for your card to arrive in the mail a week or two later.

6.Nowloan: Nowloan is a new service helping match users with the right lender for them based on their personal circumstances, they don’t do hard credit checks when matching you with a lender and their service is completely free of charge.